It Comes at Night (2017)

First hour of the movie is very intense. But the ending is unexpected in a disappointing way. The directing may be good but the story is trash.

Terrible movie. Absolutely nothing happens, and absolutely nothing comes at night, in the morning, for dinner. Nothing..... Just nothing.

It Comes at Night is a perfect example of marketing done wrong for a movie. When this film's trailers and posters came out, I was immediately intrigued and believed that it was a horror film. Although I ended up not seeing it in theaters, I watched it for the first time last night and was shocked by the difference in genre from what I had been imagining in my head. The trailers would have you believe that it is a horror movie when in reality, although there is a horror element to it, the film is more so a suspense than anything. Bad marketing aside, this film is a technological masterpiece, sporting beautiful shots, careful uses of lighting, and a real feeling of isolation and intensity that is felt throughout the entirety of the film. This film for the first half of it had me completely hooked and I was fascinated by the world they appeared to be building, wanting to know more. However all of this buildup led to an ending that felt not only as though it was rushed, it was also confusing and took me looking it up to understand it. The major question posed by this film, whether one should trust those whom aren't family during tense or dangerous times, is a deep question that I have found myself contemplating over since watching this film. Joel Edgerton helps to carry this film and does a good job of performing tasks and dealing with extreme circumstances in relatable, realistic ways. Even something as seemingly insignificant as missing shots when shooting at people or in high-pressure situations helped to drive home the natural feel of his character. One of the largest questions about this movie was the title (Ignoring the insane amount of jokes made) and what it could possibly mean. My opinion is that it is a reference to the son's visions he experiences at night and how they morph from simply being visions to seemingly merge with real life. An interesting and engaging plot idea that kept me tense throughout the whole film but fails somewhat to deliver on its own tension, this a movie that film students should watch if simply to appreciate and learn from the technical aspects of It Comes at Night.

In the midst of an outbreak of a deadly plague, a man and his family keep themselves locked away in their house and follow a very strict protocol (involving keeping doors locked at all times and only venturing outside when absolutely necessary). When a stranger arrives at their house offering to trade food for water the family decide that it may be better for both families to pool their resources and agree to let the other family stay, but can they be trusted?Director Trey Edward Shults does a commendable job in terms of creating atmosphere and tension (particularly at the start of the film). The isolated setting is used to good effect and the mistrust that exists between the families is a fairly solid base in terms of creating paranoia. Unfortunately, this is really where the praise for this film ends...I think it's fair to say that Shults does a much better job as a director than he does as a writer; not a lot is explained here and much of the dialogue is either uninteresting or does very little to drive anything forward. There is no explanation of how this plague began or how people get infected? What you're left with then is a bit of atmosphere, a bit of tension and paranoia, but nothing to glue everything together and with very little in the way of a story it does make it difficult to become involved with this film - it also doesn't help that the film feels a tad repetitive at times as well.Shults is a fairly new director and I can see some potential here; as I say some of the technical aspects are quite good and he also gets some good performances out of his actors. However, if he chooses to write and direct on his next project he could do with putting a bit more thought into his next script.