It Comes at Night * * * *

It Comes at Night is a tight little drama that’s a bit cheeky.  It doesn’t really tell us what is going on, but in some ways it’s stronger for that.  What we do sense is that something very bad has happened in the world and now it’s each to their own.

Don't open that door

       We’re introduced to a small family, who are living in the country: a husband and wife and their teen age son: a young man plagued by nightmares which we share with him.
 Their house is boarded up to keep intruders out. The family are not so concerned about what will be taken from them as what will be given to them. There is something sick out there.  They’ve just buried Grandpa because he’d caught it.  He died spewing black goo and his skin blistering.

       One night a man tries to break in.  The family capture and interrogate him and find him to be true.  Like them he is free from the sickness that seems to have killed most people: he is just looking for a safe place for himself and his wife and infant child.  He tells them he can give back too, he has livestock. So after some caution the two small families agree to live together in the same house and share resources.  

       But one day they develop a concern when something happens to the infant child they have brought with them. Naturally the child’s mother and father are protective. The trust between the two families, which was always tenuous, begins to break down. Soon the terror inside the house becomes greater than what is outside.

       It’s a tense drama that keeps you on the edge of your seat.  Great performances from the five main actors and the child.

        Using simple props like spotlights and ”a door that must stay locked”, the film has a dark menacing atmosphere with a few shocks and bumps to keep you on the edge of your seat.