It Comes at Night offers a very dark look at the world ravaged by a mysterious disease. A slow-burner that will give you chills and leave you heartbroken!
Husband and wife, Paul and Sarah, have managed to survive a mysterious disease. The result is a very restricted life in the safety of their house with their 17-year-old son, Travis, and his maternal grandfather.
It Comes at Night is an extremely intense movie. It’s carried by a tight story, a great cast, and realistic characters. You won’t find any crazy special effects or huge jump scares, but you should feel terrified pretty much from start to finish.
There’s a vibe along the lines of It Follows and Here Alone. Just like it’s the case with most post-apocalyptic worlds (i.e. The Walking Dead) the biggest threat is often coming from other healthy people.
It Comes at Night will leave you breathless
Throughout much of the movie, I found myself holding my breath. The characters are often on edge and being quiet and alert is how you survive. Also, the score is amazing.
When it comes to It Comes at Night, however, the composer was Brian McOmber. He’s already composed for a lot of shorts and a few other feature films. He has also worked with the writer-director of this movie, Trey Edward Shults, before and they seem to make a perfect horror duo!
We should definitely get ready to see Brian McOmber as score composer for horror in the future. He definitely knows how to create horror with a score, that’s for sure!
No happy endings in a post-apocalyptic world
It Comes at Night shows a very dark potential future, but it also seems realistic. Or rather, in a world where we’re constantly between various deadly flues and terror attacks, it certainly doesn’t really feel unrealistic.
What It Comes at Night centers on is the fact that it’s an “every man for himself”-kind of world. You fight for your own life and that of your loved ones, but mercy and compassion are luxuries, we cannot afford.
Of course, it’s hard not to ponder the obvious; If people had worked together early on, maybe this post-apocalyptic world could’ve been avoided. It’s just too late once the proverbial shit has hit the fan big time.
Amazing cast, story, and director
Joel Edgerton (The Gift) and Carmen Ejogo (Alien: Covenant) are spot-on as husband and wife in the center of the story. Still, I must say the truly heartbreaking and intensely raw acting comes from two other actors.
First, there’s Kelvin Harrison Jr. as their son, Travis, who in many ways is the real lead character in this movie. He’s trapped in a world where there’s no real future. And certainly no other people. For a 17-year-old to only have solitude in his future is the same as death.
Second, I have to mention Riley Keough (Mad Max: Fury Road), who portrays the mother in the family looking for refuge in their house. If you want to hear screams that can make glass – and hearts – break, then she can deliver!
Trey Edward Shults wrote an amazing script for this movie and then directed it to perfection. I cannot wait to see what he has in store next!
It Comes at Night premiered at the 2017 Overlook Film Festival. It’s out in a limited theater release from June 9, 2017.
You do not want to miss this one!
Details
Director: Trey Edward Shults
Writer: Trey Edward Shults
Cast: Joel Edgerton, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Christopher Abbott, Carmen Ejogo, Riley Keough
Plot
Married couple Paul and Sarah have secure lives within a desolate home with their 17-year-old son, Travis. While a fierce and mysterious dissease is sweeping across the world, they’ve established a tenuous domestic order to survive. Unfortunately, this will soon be put to test when a desperate young family arrives seeking refuge.
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