A thunderstorm strikes Bridgton, Maine and a tree crashes through the home of David Drayton (Thomas Jane), his wife Stephanie (Kelly Collins Lintz), and their eight-year-old son Billy (Nathan Gamble). The next morning, David, Billy, and their neighbour Brent Norton (Andre Braugher) go into town for supplies, not noticing at first that a mysterious mist is approaching the town. Military convoys pass them on the road.
In the supermarket, the mist covers the town, trapping everyone inside. Dan Miller (Jeffrey DeMunn) bursts into the store, frightened of what he says are things in the mist. A woman leaves alone to get her children, and bagger Norm (Chris Owen) tries to fix the store’s generator but is dragged off by a tentacled creature. The survivors barricade the store, but religious fanatic Mrs. Carmody (Marcia Gay Harden) warns everyone that the mist is divine punishment. Brent leaves the store with a bunch of people and does not return.
David and a few others, including teachers Amanda Dunfrey (Laurie Holden) and Irene Keppler (Frances Sternhagen) try to keep order. But chaos explodes when giant flying insects and pterodactyl-like creatures break through the windows, killing several people. Mrs. Carmody survives the attack by praying and gains followers.
David and a group venture to a nearby pharmacy for medical supplies, but they are attacked by giant spidery creatures. When they return, Mrs. Carmody begins calling for sinners to be sacrificed to turn away God’s wrath. A soldier who tells them the mist was released by a military experiment gone wrong is thrown outside and is killed by a monster.
The next morning, Mrs. Carmody demands that Billy be sacrificed, but quiet little assistant manager Billie Weeks (Toby Jones) pulls out a gun and blows her away, probably to the relief of the audience. This allows David and his group to escape. They stop by David’s house and find Stephanie’s dead body. They drive through mist filled with giant creatures and scenes of destruction and then run out of gas just as they hear an enormous creature coming.
In a powerful ending and a monumental spoiler (be warned!) David uses his last bullets to kill the others in the car, including his son, and then exits the vehicle, expecting to be eaten alive by the growling monster in the mist, which turns out to be a military convoy rescuing people.
The film was produced, written, and directed by Frank Darabout based on Stephen King’s 1980 novella. He added the powerful ending with King’s permission. Darabout had wanted to do this film as his directorial debut but did The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile first. He compared The Mist to Lord of the Flies and the Twilight Zone. He kept the music to a minimum to make it more like a documentary. I found the silence more terrifying than creepy music.
The film received 73% on Rotten Tomatoes. Bloody Disgusting made it number 4 on the top 20 films of the decade, and it was nominated for Best Horror Film, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actress at the 34th Saturn Awards. I imagine the best supporting actress was Marcia Gaye Hardin as Mrs. Carmody, the annoying Christian woman. Some reviewers found her just as hard to believe as she was hard to like and called that a flaw. But we had just seen a cynical scientific rationalist leave and end up eaten alive from the inside, and she provided a strange kind of balance. Then, when the shy little guy blew her away, he handed the gun over to the hero. And the ending whose courage I admired was hated by many. I can’t say I blame them either.
I love this movie. No, I don’t. It makes me feel awful in so many ways. But I admire it as a real science-fiction/horror movie, showing the monsters inside and outside. These people are terrified and bewildered and take it out on each other, as people do. The first time I saw the ending, I was stunned. And having seen it several times, I am still profoundly moved.