Until the Light Takes Us

Until the Light Takes Us
film title, awards and critical commentary imposed over a stark black-and-white image of a man in black metal-wear – black clothing, spikes and corpse paint – holding an inverted cross
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Aaron Aites
Audrey Ewell
Produced by Aaron Aites
Tyler Brodie
Audrey Ewell
Gill Holland
Frederick Howard
Starring Gylve "Fenriz" Nagell
Varg "Count Grishnackh" Vikernes
Jan Axel "Hellhammer" Blomberg
Kjetil-Vidar "Frost" Haraldstad
Harmony Korine
Bjarne Melgaard
Kristoffer "Garm" Rygg
Bård "Faust" Eithun
Cinematography Audrey Ewell
Odd Reinhardt Nicolaysen
Edited by Andrew Ford
Production
companies
Artists Public Domain
Field Pictures
The Group Entertainment
Distributed by Variance Films
Release dates
Running time
 93 minutes
Country United States
Language English

Until the Light Takes Us is a 2008 American documentary film about early Norwegian black metal, directed by Aaron Aites and Audrey Ewell. The film premiered at the AFI Film Festival in 2008, a year before it was released in theaters.

Featured interviewees

Archives footage

Release

Variance Films acquired the theatrical rights to the film in the U.S. and released it in New York City on December 4, 2009. The film grossed $7,246 on a single screen in its first week, the second highest per-screen gross of any debuting film at the time (behind Up in the Air).

Reception

Until the Light Takes Us received a 54 out of 100 score on Metacritic and a 46% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Andrew O'Hehir of Salon.com called the film "crafty and compelling". Nick Pinkerton of The Village Voice wrote, "The filmmakers seem cowed into obeisance by their subjects. Varg's last onscreen appearance is accompanied by a montage fitting a schoolyard crush, and the film's title is the translation of Burzum's fourth album, Hvis lyset tar oss. [...] [the film] arrives a decade too late to add much."

See also