Theatrical Experience - Red Door Edition - It Comes at Night

It Comes at Night

Director - Trey Edward Shults

Writer - Trey Edward Shults

Starring - Joel Edgerton, Carmen Ejogo, Kelvin Harrison Jr, Christopher Abbott, Riley Keough

"But just to be safe the red door stays closed and locked all the time."

It Comes at Night is the new horror film from independent studio A24 (Moonlight, The Witch, 20th Century Women, Ex Machina, pretty much every good movie of the last few years) and much like those movies buck expectations in pursuit of greater things Trey Edward Shults has much more in mind than making a standard claustrophobic horror film. Starting with a cold open that reveals what is at stake and how far Paul (Edgerton) and his family are willing to go to preserve themselves Shults never loses his focus on this unit. Paul, his wife Sarah (Ejogo) and their son Travis (Harrison Jr) form an unbreakable unit that prioritizes their own safety and well being above all else.

Their existence is threatened when a stranger (Abbott) breaks into their house looking for supplies to help his own family, his wife (Keough) and their young son (Griffin Robert Faulkner). Paul cautiously approaches the situation and after a roadside encounter in the middle of the woods, forms a tenuous bond with the stranger (his name is revealed to be Will) and takes in his family, crowding his household.

The events of It Comes at Night take place in a post-apocalyptic world in which a disease has ravaged humanity. Very little is revealed about the disease with Shults opting to explore the tensions that arise from the confinement of the two families in the household. Characters take precautions against the disease in the form of gloves and gasmasks and the effects of the disease are shown in the cold open but its origins, its spread and the full extent of its effects are queries largely pushed aside by the film as unimportant.

This is a quietly intense film, locking these characters into a confined space and watching events unfold. The acting is great with the cast performing admirably. There is no standout performance, everybody does a great job. The female characters are shifted to the back burner for a majority of the film though as Shults seems more interested in examining the conflicts between the two patriarchs. This is disappointing to me, as a large Riley Keough fan (see: The Girlfriend Experience, Lovesong, American Honey, The Discovery and Mad Max: Fury Road) I was hoping to see another great role from her. She (and Carmen Ejogo) do good work but their roles could have been bigger.

Overall It Comes at Night is a tense exercise in paranoia, insecurity, grief, love and pain that largely succeeds in its ambitions. Trey Edward Shults has crafted something special here. Slowly and deliberating ratcheting up the tension until the breathtaking climax and heartstopping finale, this is not just one of the best horror movies of the year, but one of the best movies of the year.

Schurmann Score - 8/10