Darkly Noon, whose name comes from a Bible passage, is a young man who has spent his entire life as a member of an ultraconservative Christian cult. After a violent incident in which the cult is dissolved and Darkly's parents die, a disoriented Darkly wanders into a forest in the Appalachian region of North Carolina. He is rescued from exhaustion by a coffin transporter named Jude and his friend Callie. Jude leaves Darkly in Callie's care. As Callie nurses him back to health, Darkly becomes frustrated by the conflict between his religious past and his attraction to his new companion. His frustration intensifies when Clay, Callie's mute boyfriend, who builds the coffins Jude sells, returns home after being away for a few days. Darkly's inner turmoil further builds after he encounters Clay's mother, Roxy, who despises the relationship between Clay and Callie. Roxy tells Darkly that she believes that Callie is a witch bent on destroying Roxy's family. Despite his detached behavior, Darkly becomes good friends with Jude. One day, Darkly discovers a bizarre giant shoe on the river, and when Roxy's dog dies, they place the body in the shoe and set it on fire as a floating funeral pyre. Jude proposes that he and Darkly move awayto live together. Darkly agrees, and Jude leaves with plans to return for Darkly. Overcome with loneliness, Roxy commits suicide. After finding Roxy's body, Darkly hallucinates that his dead parents are telling him to kill Callie. Now thoroughly unhinged, Darkly wraps himself in barbed wire, paints himself red, and arms himself with one of Clay's chisels. He bursts into Callie and Clay's house, intent on murdering the couple, whom he discovers having sex. During the horrific attack, a fire starts, which quickly burns down the house. Jude arrives and sees the inferno. Rifle in hand, Jude enters to rescue Callie and Clay. When Callie tells Darkly that she loves him, Darkly hesitates, giving Jude the opportunity to shoot him. "Who will love me now?" are Darkly's last words as he dies in Callie's arms. The next morning, while Callie, Clay, and Jude view the ruinsof the house, a family of circus people arrive. They claim to have lost all their supplies and ask if anyone had seen their giant shoe. The group decides to go for help together. One of the children gives the Callie a shoe which resembles the giant shoe.
Entertainment Weekly called The Passion of Darkly Noon "an unintended comedy with a scorcher of an ending", citing poor acting, over-the-top dialogue and implausible plot twists. Conversely, Fangoria magazine praised the film, citing especially the performance of Brendan Fraser. Leading UK film critic Mark Kermode has raved about the film calling it "One of my favourite cinematic experiences of recent years" and also citing it as " great unsung work." Like Ridley's previous film The Reflecting Skin it has developed a cult following and in 2014 made the top 10 in The Daily Telegraph's list of the 50 most underrated films of all time.
