It Comes at Night (2017)

Review

91min

Genre:       Horror, Mystery, Thriller

Director:    Trey Edward Shults

Cast:         Joel Edgerton, Carmen Ejogo, Christopher Abbott…and more

Writer:      Trey Edward Shults

-Synopsis-

With the outside world ravaged by a contagious and virulent disease, a family survives in their secure and isolated home, only to have their refuge and lives threatened when they take in another young family in this doomsday psychological horror from up-and-coming writer/director Trey Edward Shults.

After writing, directing and starring in a short turned feature debut with his 2015’s family drama ‘Krisha’, Shults turns his attentions to another dark facet of the human psyche with a tense post-apocalyptic psychological thriller—a taut and occasionally horrific human drama fuelled by fear and suspicion, and built on the foundations of our often disquieting basic instincts for survival.

Joel Edgerton stars as ‘Paul’, a father living in an isolated cabin in the woods of anywhere USA with his wife ‘Sarah’ (Carmen Ejogo) and their teenage son ‘Travis’ (Kelvin Harrison Jr.)—where the only way in or out is through one red door—as they try to survive in a post-apocalyptic world devastated by a killer virus, and where it’s ‘every man for himself’ for the survivors. When stranger ‘Will’ (Christopher Abbott) shows up with his wife ‘Kim’ (Riley Keough) and their infant son ‘Andrew’ (Griffin Robert Faulkner), Paul and his family put their fears aside to form a mutually beneficial living arrangement with their new guests—but suspicions are never far as the darkness which lies within and without begins to surface, putting everyone in this new extended family in danger.

Despite what the title might suggest, ‘It Comes at Night’ much more a psychological thriller than a traditional horror centred around an inescapable dark force, and the menace here comes just as much from within than from what the outside world throws at this small group of desperate souls. Shults is certainly inspired by genre tropes and the classic paranoia of cold war era horror, focusing here on the menace of an unstoppable virus which is never really explained or contextualised—yet this minimalist little indie is unconventional in many ways, serving as a high-concept horror which delves more broadly into the very instincts and nature which can make monsters out of us all.

Minimalism, realism and simplicity are the names of the game here, with the only hint of shock or gore coming through the occasional dream or nightmares, giving the film a different visual dimension with a hint of Southern gothic—but the true menace and despair happen in the cold light of reality, written vividly across the actors’ faces through strong performances all around, and delivered through sparse but deliberate dialogue.

Indeed all the performances are accomplished, subtle and wholly convincing in their depiction of true fear in the face of an ominous fate—and the outsiders who bring it—reflecting a deeper theme which has always run through society but seems to be rearing its ugly head more prominently these days. Joel Edgerton continues to prove one of the most versatile and bold actors and filmmakers working today with another captivating role and performance, playing off the equally impressive Carmen Ejogo and young Kelvin Harrison Jr. to convincingly portray a modern family unit surviving against the odds and despite personal tragedy—while Christopher Abbott proves just as accomplished as the opposing patriarch who enters the fray and upsets the balance.

Like Robert Eggers’s 2016 indie period horror ‘The Witch’, ‘It Comes at Night’ is an atmospheric and subtle psychological ordeal which steadily builds tension but keeps the audience guessing throughout, leaving some major whos, whats and whys are left unanswered all the way through the end and contributing to the tension and suspicion—leaving everyone’s motives and actions open to questioning. Yet for genre purists the change of pace and the absence of jumpscares or copious amounts of blood and guts being spilled might make this film an underwhelming horror effort, this being more of a stark heart-breaking proposition than a spine-tingling one.

Ultimately what makes up for the film’s lack of traditional terror is its existential depth, a narrative which serves as a critique of the destructive nature of fear, paranoia and isolation, yet also provides a grey area with the sombre realisation that these are instincts which keep us alive. ‘It Comes at Night’ may only go so far in making butts clench movie seats, but this thoroughly unsettling little horror/thriller is just as effective as a harrowing human drama about the threat that lives in the hearts of men . . . and their cells.

The Bottom Line…

A tense, atmospheric and unsettling little minimalist indie psychological thriller, ‘It Comes at Night’ may not quite have traditional horror chops but Trey Edward Shults’s impressive second feature benefits from strong subtle performances and stark layers of humanity—making this horror/drama hybrid an introspective and disturbing ordeal. . . and utterly watchable.

Similar films you may like (Home Video)

The Witch (2016)

In the search for a more pious existence, a family of 17th century puritanical English settlers leave their plantation for the isolation of rural New England, but dark forces in the woods will test their faith and threaten their family in this stark period horror from production designer turned writer/director Robert Eggers.

Directed by Robert Eggers and starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Ineson and Kate Dickie among others.

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