It Comes At Night

IT COMES AT NIGHT

Director : Trey Edward Shults
Year : 2017
Genre : Thriller
Rating : **1/2

At a time when horror cinema dutifully relies on hackneyed and predictable jump-scare tactics to frighten it's audience, it is refreshing to watch a film that so purposefully avoids those cliches and conventions. Directed by camera operator-turned-filmmaker Trey Edward Shults and starring Joel Edgerton, Carmen Ejogo and Christopher Abbott, the enigmatically titled post-apocalyptic psycho-thriller 'It Comes At Night' is rich in atmosphere and tone, effortlessly maintaining a creepy ambience and claustrophobic tension throughout it's relatively short running time without ever succumbing to the sharp orchestral stabs and bang-crash sound effects now synonymous with the modern horror experience. However, a fatally slow pace and a distinct lack of answers make 'It Comes At Night' a rather dull and frustrating watch that it is easy to respect but not so easy to enjoy. 

The film, which tells the story of two American families reluctantly living with each other following the aftermath of an unnamed pathogenic outbreak is certainly an intriguing one and with an emphasis on paranoia rather than overt scares, 'It Comes At Night' draws immediate thematic comparison with 'The Shining' and other claustrophobic genre classics such as George A. Romero's 'Night Of The Living Dead' (1968) and John Carpenter's 1982 Arctic-set shocker 'The Thing'. But whereas Stanley Kubrick's 1980 masterpiece deftly utilised the comparatively palacial corridors of The Overlook Hotel to create a sense of isolation and unknown dread, director Shults conversely keeps his characters in tight enclosed spaces, enveloping them in darkness and allowing their own mental states to generate the fear that will eventually tear their relationships and indeed themselves apart. Underscoring the nyctophobic tension are Brian McOmber's deeply unsettling compositions which alternative from strained, melancholic strings to repetitive drum ostinatos that echo the terrified heartbeats of the characters. 

From a technical standpoint, 'It Comes As Night' is a triumph. It's visual style is striking and memorable, it sounds wonderful and the performances, especially that of newcomer Kelvin Harrison Jr, are unanimously great. However, far too many of the questions the movie asks are ultimately left unanswered and while ambiguity is something to admire and respect in our increasingly conventional horror sphere, a disappointing lack of explanation or resolution is sure to leave those cinema-goers expecting the standard thriller the films trailer so poorly represents stone cold.