Dark Days

Released Jan 27, 2000

1h 34m

Documentary

List

94%

Tomatometer

72 Reviews

89%

Audience Score

5,000+ Ratings

"Dark Days" is a feature length documentary about a community of homeless people living in a train tunnel beneath Manhattan. The film depicts a way of life which is unimaginable to most of those who walk the streets above. In the pitch blackness of the tunnel rats swarm through piles of garbage and high-speed trains out of Penn station tear through the darkness.

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Critics Consensus

Marc Singer's documentary about a group of homeless people living beneath the streets of New York City is haunting and uplifting in equal measure.

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Jack Mathews

New York Daily News

This is the world discovered and illuminated by gonzo documentarian Marc Singer, who spent a good part of two years living with and chronicling the lives of a half-dozen tunnel dwellers for his remarkable first film, Dark Days

Rated: 3.5/4

Mar 3, 2014

Full Review

David Bianculli

New York Daily News

Moving and memorable.

Rated: 3.5/4

Mar 3, 2014

Full Review

Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

The lives of these people inside their shacks are full of surprises as well as grim confirmations, but the things we don't know about them also significantly shape our experience of the film.

Mar 3, 2014

Full Review

Eve Tushnet

Patheos

Dark Days is well-paced, knowing when to ramble and when to pull you up short. Great editing. Great choices of which stories to tell on camera.

Jul 31, 2023

Full Review

Jordan M. Smith

IONCINEMA.com

Dark Days is an unimaginable story, skillfully documented by a passionate film making novice, and wonderfully scored by the high-profile DJ Shadow.

Rated: 4.5/5

Nov 21, 2020

Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

The documentary is amazing.

Rated: B

Apr 29, 2014

Full Review

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Thomas M

The best documentary movie ever made!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/25/22

Full Review

Audience Member

Equal parts inspiring and depressing. A literal subculture beneath the wealth. A side of truth that not many people get to see.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/29/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I've probably had this film on my "to see"-list for 15 years and it was sweet to finally peep it. In Marc Singer's first and only film we enter the underground tunnels of NYC. Things live here. Mostly rats and bugs, but also homeless people and they're dogs. We watch the frustrations, the happiness, the abusiveness and life as a bum in general. There are all kinds of people here, most of them with drug habits, some cleaner than others - but all of them are dirty and with some heavy loads. I like most of the people here. Very true people with some interesting philosophies. It's done in black and white - something that's probalby for the best as everything is dark around there anyways. All the "luxory" surprize me a lot. The way they are always improving the shacks, got TV's and make they're own food. A nice soundtrack by DJ Shadow is a big hit for me as he is one of my favorite artists. He even did a single for this film but most of the songs are taken from previous records. Good documentary with ups, downs, surprizes but firstly very real stories that got something to tell. 7.5 out of 10 rats.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/17/23

Full Review

delysid d

Dark Days is a pretty cool homeless documentary. It doesn't really go anywhere but I enjoyed the dark and bleak atmosphere

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

04/23/17

Full Review

Audience Member

An amazing documentary from first time director Marc Singer about a community of homeless people living just off the underground subway tracks in NYC. They have built there own shacks and have tapped into the city's power supply. They have scavenged furniture and appliances and live in what are essentially small, scaled-downed homes, some with pets, some with friends. Singer's film making process somewhat mirrored this community as he worked with borrowed and hand-made equipment with essentially no budget. You get to know these people very well, and the film humanizes these people for the viewer. It may not be an explicitly political film, but anything that creates human connections across vast economic divides is doing something political. DJ Shadow provides a remarkable soundtrack.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/01/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This masterpiece is supported by the accompanying 'making of dark days' doc. Watch both and you'll see how this film eventually got made against great odds. Deep, deep work from all involved in escaping their own desperate subterranean lives. The fake DJ shadow promoter..? Just watch.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

Full Review

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Marc Singer

Director

Marc Singer

Self

Ben Freedman

Co-Producer

Randall Mesdon

Executive Producer

Gordon Paul

Executive Producer

Paolo Seganti

Executive Producer

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Synopsis

"Dark Days" is a feature length documentary about a community of homeless people living in a train tunnel beneath Manhattan. The film depicts a way of life which is unimaginable to most of those who walk the streets above. In the pitch blackness of the tunnel rats swarm through piles of garbage and high-speed trains out of Penn station tear through the darkness.

Director: Marc Singer
Producer: Randall Mesdon, Gordon Paul, Paolo Seganti, Morton Swinsky
Distributor: The Sundance Channel, Columbia Pictures, Palm Pictures
Production Co: Picture Farm
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 27, 2000, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 4, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $436.8K
Runtime: 1h 34m
Sound Mix: Dolby SR, Dolby Digital, Surround
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.66:1)

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