'Dark Days': An Immersive and Shadow-Laden Exploration of New York City's Community of Underground Citizens

Dark Days (2000) is an immersive documentary that provides a stark and intimate look into a community of homeless people living underground in New York City in the 1990's. Primarily set beneath Amtrak's Freedom Tunnel in subterranean Manhattan, the film showcases their daily struggles and efforts to create a sense of home in an otherwise desolate and dangerous environment.

The film presents the residents of the tunnel (often referred to as "mole people") as complex individuals with diverse backgrounds and stories, showing how they have adapted to their challenging circumstances. By building makeshift dwellings and establishing a unique social structure, they demonstrate enormous resilience despite myriad struggles with addiction, poverty and eviction. The filmmakers avoid sensationalizing their plight, instead focusing on their humanity and genuine concerns while documenting efforts to help those living in the tunnels ultimately obtain housing.

Directed, produced and shot by English documentarian Marc Singer, who lived among the tunnel dwellers for two years, Dark Days is a compassionate yet unflinching portrayal of homelessness in urban America. Singer employs stark black-and-white cinematography along with a somber electronic soundtrack composed by DJ Shadow to craft a haunting and deeply human tone. His film ultimately serves as both a sobering social commentary and a testament to human adaptability, shining a light—both literally and figuratively—on lives that might otherwise remain in the shadows.

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