Release: June 9, 2017 | Runtime: 91 minutes | Rated: R
I do not think the production studio A24 knows how to make a film below excellent. They bring back the award winning director of “Kesha” (Trey Edwards Shults) to direct “It Comes At Night”. This artsy film was an incredibly entertaining non-stop thrill ride. It is very intriguing, even when scenes would typically be slow, Trey Edward Shults was able to make them very intense. “It Comes At Night” had terrific performances by the whole cast, including Christopher Abbott and Kelvin Harrison Jr. but the highlight of the film is by far Joel Edgerton. His performance is emotional, heart breaking and personal. Grabbing audiences and throwing them in his shoes right from the start. The visual aesthetic of the set design was very beautiful. But the close quarters cinematography was absolutely gorgeous. Every shot looked like a piece of art.
What was the most thought-provoking was the intelligent was the story. Putting audiences in the shoes of the survivors, left with no one to trust. The world building is also very immersive and believable. “It Comes At Night” seems like something that could actually happen.
Overall this film is excellent and deserves plenty of attention. I can't push it enough, everyone needs to see Shults’s ground breaking film. Its emotionally engaging and has audiences questioning everyone. And with its beautiful cinematography and fantastic acting “It Comes At Night” is not a film to miss. I am going to recommend everyone to see “It Comes At Night”
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Cabell (Contributor) is a filmmaker from Tampa, Florida. He will watch just about any film but when he's not reviewing the latest hits he spends time directing films of his own. |
Rating: 4.8 out of 5
At the center of the film is Paul (Joel Edgerton) husband of Sarah and father of Travis. He was a teacher before the epidemic spread and is a "trust family only" kind of person. He secures their home in the woods with plenty of supplies and weapons to protect themselves. Not much is known about what is happening in the outside world - only that people get sick and die rather quickly. They end up taking in another family, Will, his wife Kim, and their son Andrew. this is where things get bad. Paul explains that there is only one way in and out of the house, through the red door which only he has a key to. And that they never go out at night. Everything seems to be going fine between the two families until one night, Travis goes downstairs and sees the door open. It's questionable how this happened although ultimately you can determine it was Travis as he suffers from nightmares (these provided most of the really scary scenes). Paranoia builds in the house as the child, Andrew, from the other family gets sick, when they try to leave Paul ends up killing them. Travis ultimately gets sick as well as his mother.
It pains me to give this movie a negative review. The cast was amazing and I felt really connected to them, I wanted to know more about their individual stories and what their lives were like before all of this happened. Unfortunately, I kept waiting for something to happen, between Travis having his nightmares and the underlying theme of something in the woods but nothing did until the end. The worst question is how did Travis open the door if Paul was the only one with a key and he has it at all times? It was even in the trailer, this really bothered me and if anyone has the answer - do tell.
All in all I was disappointed by this film, there was so much hype that I think it got built up too much. It was a pretty big let down. I left with more questions than answers, that could be a good thing but in this case it's not. I love horror films and scary movies, this just missed the mark for me. If you liked The Witch you'll like this movie.
 | Ashley K. (Contributor) is a frequent traveler currently living in San Diego. She's a super nerd who enjoys all kinds of movies and doesn't always think the book was better. |
Rating: 2 out of 5