Shot in the Highlands of Scotland, the “paleolithic horror film” known as “Out of Darkness” has some credibility issues, but is otherwise a frightening exercise in Stone Age survival. A band of homo sapiens led by an adult male named Adem (Chuku Modu) includes elder Odal (Arno Luning), pregnant female Ave (Iona Evans), young female Beyah (Safia Oakley-Green), young hunter-warrior Geirr (Kit Young) and boy Heron (Luna Mwezi). Wandering a barren heath, surrounded by mountains and foothills, these surprisingly diverse and well-dressed early humans are starving to death. We meet them around a campfire 45,000 years ago. Speaking in a (made up) ancient language with subtitles, Odal tells the story of a tribe that “moved with the seasons” and found a land “teeming with animals.”

These carnivore humans fear “demons” in the forest and will not venture into it except when Heron is taken in the night. In terms of weapons to hunt or protect themselves, Adem and Geirr carry pointed throwing spears, and Beyah has a sharp piece of flint that she wields like a knife when she isn’t scraping it to try to light a fire.

“Out of Darkness” is like a cross between the 1981 Jean-Jacques Annaud (“Seven Years in Tibet”) Canadian-shot landmark “Quest for Fire” with Hellboy himself Ron Perlman and 1980s nepo baby Rae Dawn Chong; and last year’s acclaimed, real-life, Netflix survival drama “Society of the Snow.” In the woods, the humans hear the loud cry of something in the night. One of the humans is killed, and the others struggle with the idea of eating the dead person’s flesh to stay alive. Some do.

In an earlier scene, Adem and Geirr come across the picked-clean carcass of a mammoth that was forced over or fell from a cliff. Beyah experiences her first period. A predatory, ancient misogynist Adem tells her she “has found her purpose.” The sky is full of constant rain clouds (although we don’t see any rain). Someone makes the world’s first movie, a flip animation of drawings on two sides of a coin-shaped brooch. Although archaeologists are credited in the film’s end titles, I couldn’t help but wonder where were the animals whose furs were used to make the tribe’s beautifully-stitched, well-fitting clothing. I could imagine these shearling-like frocks adorning a modern-day runway or the limbs of some Kardashian. Did these paleolithic folk invent Uggs? Did they have an earlier encounter with a stone-age gazelle or that saber-toothed tiger out of “10,000 B.C.?”

The real star of “Out of Darkness” is the Highlands themselves: vast, barren, windswept and atavistic. I’m afraid that I can’t reveal much more of the plot without spoilers. There is something in the woods, seemingly stalking the humans. A scary chase sequence takes place inside a series of caves. According to the credits, the language we hear in the film is something called “Tola.” Director Andrew Cumming (TV’s “Payback”) studied at UK’s prestigious National Film & Television School with a scholarship from the David Lean Foundation. He co-wrote the story with Oliver Kassman (“Saint Maud”). The “Out of Darkness” screenplay is attributed to first-timer Ruth Greenberg. One of the most interesting elements of the film is the primitive music by Adam Janota Bzowski (“Saint Maud”), featuring flutes, conch and kudu horns. In addition to its looks, “Out of Darkness” also sounds paleolithic.

(“Out of Darkness” contains extreme violence and mature themes)

“Out of Darkness”

Rated. R. At the AMC Boston Common, AMC Causeway, Alamo Drafthouse Boston Seaport, AMC South Bay and other and suburban theaters.

Grade: B