Hands up who loves an unfathomable mystery?

In the capable hands of writer and director Darren Mann and co-writers William Paul Jones and Michael Weaver, we have a new angle on this rather appetising genre in Arctic Void. A crew of enthusiastic film-makers are sailing through the glassily beautiful waters of the Arctic. Among them are old friends Ray (Michael Weaver) and Alan (Tim Griffin), and Shaun (Justin Huen), their last-minute stand-in cameraman, previously unknown to the two friends.

You know the sort of mystery I mean; where after exhausting the reasonable theories even the most implausible ones simply don’t stand up. Eventually someone chalks it up to aliens and you all move on to arguing about who’s going to the shop because you’re out of coffee and sugar.

Yet still you wonder–perhaps the aliens thing doesn’t sit well with you because even with that subject opening up more with each passing moment, it’s concrete proof us earthlings seek by nature; always have, always will. Perfect for the creators of mystery tales throughout history; everyone secretly loves playing amateur sleuth.

Things don’t get much creepier than the abandoned ship scenario found in Arctic Void. A (usually) seemingly undamaged vessel, drifting unmanned on the vast, hostile expanse of the sea. Evidence of the presence of people on board, yet not a soul to be found.

Take the Mary Celeste, probably the most famed ‘ghost ship’ of all. Tantalising evidence in the very absence of any obvious cause of abandonment; no fire, personal and ship’s effects present and correct, a trailing rope, yet no lifeboat–indications that everyone on board suddenly dropped whatever they were doing and got the hell out of there; but why? What could possibly have happened to have elicited such an immediate reaction out in the middle of such an unforgiving environment? With a plethora of intriguing theories to go on, anything is up for debate, leaving horror and mystery writers rubbing their hands together gleefully.

The unsolvable appeals in more than one way; there’s a part of us that always thirsts to know what actually happened, but also a major feeling of delight in not knowing; of there being no conclusive proof of even the most sensible suggestions. Ghosts, corn circles, where Lord Lucan and Jimmy Hoffa really ended up, all that happy stuff; theories abound, but no indisputable evidence.

The stunning scenery of Arctic Void alone would have tempted me into watching this. The glacial hostility projected by the natural world in its rawest form I found relentlessly unnerving from the outset; a perfect mix of beauty and savage emptiness. I was feeling our species’ fragile vulnerability in such a harsh landscape even before anything unusual happened, which of course it did.

Strange behaviours suggesting a madness of sorts begin to show among the scant wildlife; this presented in a manner so subtle it could almost have been overlooked were it not for my aforementioned creeping undercurrent of discomfort. Those onboard become unsettled as they begin to notice, but oddly little is made of it. Creepy in itself.

Alone, with options ever diminishing and one of the two friends showing signs of some frightening rapid-onset illness, the growing desperation, fear and bewilderment shown by the three is almost pitiful to behold as they enter a remote settlement in search of help, only to find it deserted. However, truths are about to be revealed which may make them wish they’d stayed ever ignorant of this particular mystery.

Arctic Void‘s low-key subtlety only serves to amplify the characters’ dawning horror as the nature of their plight is finally revealed. Chilling.

9 Out of 10