FRIGHT FEST: IT COMES AT NIGHT

In It Comes At Night, we follow Paul (Joel Edgerton), Sarah (Carmen Ejogo), and their son Travis (Kelvin Harrison Jr.). They live in a pretty nice house/cabin in the woods in a post-apocalyptic world. A deadly contagion has been spreading, and Paul has come up with several safeguards to keep his family safe from outside threats and infection. When a stranger (Will, played by Christopher Abbot), breaks into their house looking for food and water, Paul and his family decide to help Will and his (consisting of Kim played by Riley Keough and son Andrew played by Griffin Robert Faulkner). Now, holed up in the same cabin/house, a shaky trust/friendship is established between the two families which is about to be tested by an unlocked door at night. In the end, fear makes monsters of us all.

Paul ( is the patriarch of the main family in the film. His safeguards include keeping the two doors that lead to the outside locked at night, staying inside at night, if traveling outside doing so in groups of two, only trusting family, etc. He is a gruff but good man who (as stated above) has some issues with trust, and only cares about doing whatever he can to keep his family protected. Will is the patriarch of the second family, and he is a good deal more trusting and open than Paul. Like Paul, his main goal is keeping his family safe. Travis is the seventeen year old son of Paul and Sarah. He is one of the more rationale and clear-headed ones in the film, as he does feel fear throughout but doesn't necessarily let it affect his judgement. Riley Keough as Kim wasn't given much to do, but she sure was likable and pretty. Carmen Ejogo's Sarah ends up short-shifted as well.  I found I really liked all the characters in the film, and I was dreading how it all would end for them.

It Comes At Night was marketed as a horror film. SPOILERS It's not, though there are some horror aspects to it (Mostly via some intense nightmares had by Travis). If anything, it's more of a mix of mystery/suspense/drama. It's never scary. Whatever the 'It' of the title is is also never specified. The film has a pretty top notch cast, and everyone does a great job acting-wise (with Joel Edgerton, Christopher Abbot, and Kelvin Harris Jr. getting the most meat to chew on with their roles). The first hour of the film is just getting to know our main characters and their respective families, and watching as that shaky bond between the two form. The final thirty minutes consists of building suspense, tension and fear until the explosive and shocking climax.

I really liked how the audience is only given tiny bits of information about the surrounding circumstances of the apocalypse. We don't know what the contagion is, what it's effects are, or how it's spread. There are many vaugeries in It Comes At Night, and the film leaves to us to fill in the blanks on our own. It's always nice to see a film that trusts it's audience.

It Comes At Night was directed by Trey Edward Shults (who also wrote the screenplay and co-edited the film. I'll say the screenplay doesn't really stand out.), and the film acts as a nice calling card for the director. The cinematography (by Drew Daniels) is beautiful and the score (by Brian McOmber) is effective. Shults has a definite grasp on what he wants to achieve and convey in his film, and I'd say he does a pretty good job. Count me interested in whatever he chooses to do next.

It Comes At Night is ultimately a tale about family, trust, and the destructive power of fear.  The first hour is admittedly pretty slow, but I was completely riveted during the final thirty minutes. It definitely has a horrific payoff, so you won't be wasting your time giving it a view. I found it to be an interesting, effective, well-made and surprisingly memorable film.

4 STARS