It Comes at Night (2017)

I heard about this film a little while back, we were given a poster (which I adore) and one trailer and that was it. I'm a fan of A24 and the story seemed right up my street so I was on board. If you were anticipating a strange monster in the woods, a scary climax and some potentially disturbing visuals, this is not it. I will tell you now the marketing is in some places incorrect. After watching the trailer back, it comes across as a slightly different film, different genre almost too.

So, we have Joel Edgerton as Paul, the father and husband in a desolate world when an intruder breaks into his home. After restraining Will, said intruder, we discover that he too has a wife and son and is looking for refuge. I mentioned before that I loved the poster and I do. The simple contrast and empty space alone is pleasing. It so effortlessly implied danger whilst showing none. Like a famous piece of art called Deimos by Dragan Bibin. A dog, in It Comes at Night's case his name is Stanley, standing alert and uneasy staring at something we can't see. I was intrigued and impressed that we did not have the big reveal up front. Though after watching it's kind of because there isn't one. This is a character piece, this is a drama. It would barely scrape horror, thriller is a closer fit.

Some of the score has a sci-fi feel, like warped sirens, the repetition that wouldn't feel out of place on a space vessel. It also relied decently on the absence of sound. Heads up, you can't eat your popcorn during every scene. The silence adds real unease and suspense, the whole film is, visually and audibly, quite natural. Bar the occasional score it was all diegetic sound, very real. And most frames are filled with darkness. The black seeps in from the edges to meet the often-small singular light on screen. We see no electricity in the film, just multiple lamps and the natural lighting. The shadows created against the characters hints at what we don't know. As I said, it's more of a character piece with moral standing being part of the ensemble. 

The cast were great, Edgerton is great, I thoroughly enjoyed him in Warrior and The Midnight Special and it's no different here. One of the biggest flaws I found in the film is that there isn't enough of anything. This goes mainly with the characters. Edgerton's Paul has some difficult scenes, he shows emotion and self-conflict well but somehow has a surprisingly sparse time to show them. Kelvin Harrison Jr plays Travis, Paul's son, who has possibly the best performance of the film. He shows a genuine range of emotions and unlike most other characters he can explore them fully. As an audience we're tied to him, he often day dreams or is deep in thought and we stay with him as other characters continue with scenes. He's in a way our time keeper, he often leads us in and out of days with simple dimming to black as he sleeps and brightening as he wakes, often from nightmares. He has different relationships with every character and, thinking about it, is the only person to have a direct conversation with every other character in the film.

Will, played by Christopher Abbott, came into his own. I personally only knew him from Lena Dunham's Girls, and it was nice to recognise him but not see the character and just see this new person. But again, we don't have the chance to see the full potential and beef the character out a bit more. Same goes for the two women in the film, Travis' mum Sarah is well played by Carmen Ejogo who again doesn't have many solid scenes to show off but still managed to show her character. Will's wife Kim alternatively gets a couple of scenes to give some information about her but ultimately, she's used for other characters to work off. With the film being on 97 mins none of them really got the chance to flesh themselves out that well considering its a character driven film.

Overall it felt like a student film. Low budget but well made. Clearly Trey Edward Schults baby as he wrote, directed and co-edited the film, something I have split minds over. I don't tend to agree on people being involved in that many aspects on one project, mostly a 'Jack of all trades master of none' mentality. Sometimes one person's vision needs another persons contributions. It Comes at Night is likely to divide people’s opinions though the reception has been good. Very similar tones and style to The Witch (2015), which debatably had the same marketing flaw, though was well received. I really wished I enjoyed the ending more. A good ending doesn't have to mean a happy ending so I was open to something awful. It felt abrupt and largely unsatisfying. Though one part may shock some people it doesn't have that much of a crescendo to the basic character development. Third act has an interesting goal but not executed that well.

It's slower and more art-house than advertised. Strong aspects but more forgettable than I would like. 6/10 add on another 2 marks if you're a fan of The Witch.

CINEMATES - A