Brave The Dark – Must See Movie About Extending Kindness To Others, Finding Your Way Out Of Darkness
Brave The Dark – Must See Movie About Extending Kindness To Others, Finding Your Way Out Of Darkness
Brave the Dark is an incredible true story about what can happen when you take a chance on loving someone who clearly needs help. Perhaps it isn’t always as clear as it was in the case of Nathaniel, but even just a helping hand to someone who needs it. For example, in our story this morning about the homeless woman who died tragically on the F train in New York City, earlier in her life, during high school, she was that person for the football captain. Her help assisted him with remaining the captain and raising his grades.
In this movie, which is based on the true life story of Nathaniel and Stan Deen, we follow a young man at a critical and difficult time in his life. He is a foster child, having lost both of his parents at the age of 6. He was living with a foster family, but he ran away from that home two years prior to that.
He had a girlfriend who he really liked, but he was not being honest with her about his living situation. On top of that, he had a group of friends that were not the best influence, and they committed a crime together in the beginning of the movie. The items they stole, which it is later made clear was in a heist of a local electronics store, are being stored in Nathaniel’s car, which he is at the time living in.
One day, the local authorities arrive at the school looking for him, and he is escorted out of the school in a very public way, between classes, in front of all the other students and faculty. Shortly before his arrest, one of his teachers, Stan Deen, notices that he is trying to get a candy bar out of the machine in the lunchroom by force, and so when he enters the classroom, Mr. Deen takes out a giant Hershey bar. Before class, he gives the bar to Nathaniel, who doesn’t really understand why the teacher is giving him the chocolate bar, but he takes it politely.
Mr. Deen is one of the faculty members who sees Nathaniel being taken away, and he asks the principal why it had to be done in such a public way. The teachers and other faculty members discuss the situation, and they have a very negative view of the student. They believe he is not a good student, since he doesn’t have good grades and is also apparently committing crimes. But Mr. Deen doesn’t see it that way. He is the only one who doesn’t, but he decides to do something about it.
He goes to the prison to bail out Nathaniel. At this point, the audience begins to learn who Stan Deen is, and who he has been to the community. He is a literal fixture in the community. Everyone knows him, in a very real way. During many of his conversations with Nathan, passersby will say, “Hi, Stan!” or “Hi, Mr. Deen!” This happens almost from the beginning, and even happens in the jail, though this is unknown to Nathaniel at the time it occurs. In order to see Nathaniel, Stan spoke with the warden at the jail, who he also knows. The warden allows him to bail out Nate, who he then speaks with.
When Nathaniel meets Mr. Deen at the jail, this is when he learns that Nathaniel has been sleeping in his car for a while, and that he doesn’t have a foster home to return to. Stan then contacts Nathaniel’s grandparents, who agree to take him in, but they also put him to work instead of allowing him to return to school. When he was arrested, he also was not planning to return to school. But this was not acceptable to Stan. He insists on taking responsibility himself for Nathaniel, and to that end requests that the judge allow him to become Nathaniel’s caregiver.
As time goes on, Mr. Deen learns a lot about Nate. He learns that he was silent at the orphanage after he was six and his parents died. Nate alludes to the fact that his grandparents, who insist that his mother and father died in a car accident, are not quite being truthful. The parole officer, who is also a friend of Stan’s, needs to be kept in the loop as per the orders of the judge, and he must keep appointments with him regularly.

Stan Dee teaching drama class. Image Credit – Joseph Gidjunis
When Nate is allowed to return to school, he almost gets himself suspended again right away. His girlfriend, due to his crime, is not allowed to see him anymore at all. Her father comes to the school to enforce this. Nathaniel liked her very much, and this is very damaging to him. He smashes a window at the school before leaving.
The passage of time is not very clear, and at some point, Stan and Nathaniel are together on Christmas morning. Stan has many gifts for Nate, and one he says that is to himself from Nate. The gift he gave Nathaniel is a camera. Photography was one of the few things that he mentioned that he liked to do to Mr. Deen. Very shortly after this, he suffers a complete mental break, and the viewer learns the real truth about Nathaniel’s past. It is far more horrific than anything he mentioned, but it explains quite a lot. It explains why he believes he is not worth anything, and why he feels unwanted and unheard.
As this is the most important and climatic part of the film, and any further details would spoil it, this is enough said. The break is, in a sense, made worse by the fact that one of his friends decides that he wants to be with Nathaniel’s former girlfriend, and she is amenable to his advances. Drugs and alcohol, along with new information that Nathaniel learned earlier that day, caused him to have a critical moment, one that nearly causes his life to end.
Throughout the film, the audience gets to see the type of person Stan Deen is. He is a very caring and warm person with many friends in the community. He is one of those rare people in the world who really tries to live as he believes. He believes in practicing kindness to others, and is the first person in Nathaniel’s life who truly cares for him as he is, and who puts that caring into action. Taking him into his home was a very big step, but he believes that there is hope for Nate, that Nate can find his way out of his inner darkness and torment. And he is right.
Since this is based on a true story, there are real people behind it. Nathaniel changed his name at the end of the movie to become Nathaniel Deen. Stan was alive until 2016, and Nathaniel started a charity to remember and honor him, and to also bring light to other people who have found someone willing to take a chance, help them, and brave the dark with someone else. It is rare to find someone who will take a chance on someone who the world has given up on, and Nathaniel, through his foundation, sheds light on the kind deeds of others like Stan Deen.
The Pennsylvania charity Nathaniel founded in honor of Stan can be found at https://standeenfoundation.org There, we learn that, “Stan had the rare ability to make every person he encountered feel special and truly valued. He drew out the potential in others, often when they did not see it themselves. Stan Deen will be remembered as a man whose boundless love, joy, and generosity of spirit touched every person he knew.”
This movie was truly an inspirational story. The writing was incredible, and the kindness of Stan Deen really showed through in every moment of it. As with the other Angel Studios offerings, this movie features incredible filming as well, with exceptional camera angles and effects. This film won the Heartland International Film Festival and the Newport Beach Film Festival back in late 2023.
This movie is highly recommended, and it is the first Must-See movie I am recommending for 2025. It is a very worthwhile film to watch, and is suitable for the whole family.
I would give this five stars, and as mentioned, it is a must-see movie! It is in theaters January 24th.
Banner Image: Stan Deen with Nathaniel in the film. Image Credit – Joseph Gidjunis
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