It comes at night – film review

2017 continues to be the year of horror, (not just because of the current politcal climate) with several timely and terrifying films hitting theaters, none more riveting than A24’s newest masterpiece, It Comes At Night.

“The most important thing, we never go out at night,” warns stern patriarch Paul (Joel Edgerton), a retired history teacher turned grizzled survivalist. In the world occupied by the characters in director Trey Edward Shults’s sophomore effort, fear dictates everything. In a year where movie goers have been treated to soon-to-be horror classics such as Get Out, Raw, and The Transfiguration, It Comes At Night stands above the pack as a film that isn’t just a timely, it’s timeless.

A psychological thriller that unfolds like a combination of 28 Days Later and Cormac McCarthy’s novel The Road, It Comes At Night opens on a world that has been presumably devastated by a catastrophic and highly contagious virus. Taking place almost entirely in a boarded up house in the middle of the woods, we follow Edgerton’s intense Paul, his son Travis (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) and wife Sarah (Carmen Ejogo) living in seclusion. When a mysterious stranger, Will (Christopher Abbott) arrives, Paul interrogates him and decides to take him and his family in. Seen primarily through the viewpoint of Travis, who begins to experience terrifying hallucinations and dreams, (the aspect ratio of the film changing accordingly, further blurring the lines of reality) things slowly begin to go wrong, and the tension, distrust, and paranoia begin to build to the point your heart will be beating out your chest.

So what exactly does come at night? I’ll never say, because the less you know going in to this movie, the more you’ll be able to appreciate the freshness and brilliance of the horror unfolding before your eyes. What I will say is don’t expect a typical monster; this isn’t a typical horror film. The real villain is the paranoid and fearful nature of man, although the virus itself – black eyes, boils, and vomiting blood – is pretty terrifying. Kelvin Harrison Jr. is effective as the son caught between his stern father, loving mother, and his desire to trust the new guests, because, as Paul tells his son, you can only trust family. Christopher Abbott (known primarily as Charlie from HBO’s Girls) is equally effective as the guest that you want to trust but are never sure if you can. Although it is Joel Edgerton that steals the show as Paul, a man who has been stripped down to his most primal state of survival, willing to do anything to protect his family.

While It Comes At Night may prove to be frustratingly short on answers for some, it is the kind of movie that sticks with you and rewards rewatches. Much like A24’s previous horror masterpiece, The Witch, (be sure to keep your eyes peeled for a cameo by your favorite demonic goat, Black Phillip) It Comes At Night isn’t a conventional horror film, but it’s a smart one, tense and overwhelmingly atmospheric, the film wants you to think about the horrors that only come at night. It means to shake you, and it does.