Trey Edward Shults' It Comes At Night

Of course, anybody would put their family before anyone else, but at what price?

Directed by: 

• Trey Edward Shults

Written by:

• Trey Edward Shults

Cast:

• Joel Edgerton as Paul
• Christopher Abbott as Will
• Carmen Ejogo as Sarah
• Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Travis
• Riley Keough as Kim
• Griffin Robert Faulkner as Andrew

Length:

• approx.91 min

Genre:

• Psychological Horror

It Comes At Night isn’t a slasher, jump out of your skin, creepy scenes fest and those are probably some of the reasons why it wasn’t embraced fully by the very demanding horror community that I'm proudly part of, but I fall in the group of people that actually really enjoyed this flick. 

Reason being is I love psychological thrillers and this film has it all: paranoia, tension and a mysterious sickness that is left very open to interpretation.

In a house in the forest, a family of 4 is barricaded inside with very little time allowed to go out. Soon we find out the granddad is very unwell with some highly contagious mysterious disease, that has no cure and it’s also pretty obvious there’s not much time left for him on this planet. No one can get into his room without a gas mask and skin on skin contact is forbidden.

​When the old man is put out of his misery in the woodlands nearby by his family, the body is then disposed by setting fire to it. A few nights later a man breaks in the house, probably attracted to the area by the smoke coming from the elder, but why is the intruder really doing there? Is he lying about his intentions? Can the family trust him?
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Another reason why I probably managed to enjoy this movie more than others is because I stayed away from spoilers and 10 minute long trailers (when I was in the theatre a few months ago I actually covered my eyes like a child when it came up) that are so popular lately and I really don’t understand the appeal.
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"One of the complaints about It Comes At Night is that people were expecting a boogie man that would show up in the middle of the night.
​But it doesn’t."

With having as little information as you can about the plot, I think is better for anyone, to go see it with an open mind and be surprised as I was with the unfolding of the events before your eyes.
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​One of the most common complaints about It Comes At Night is that people were expecting a boogie man that would actually show up in the middle of the night. But it doesn’t. You definitely won’t see any monster but something does happen during the small hours and it isn’t pleasant, whatever it is, expect it to tear the household apart.

​The layout of the house that is not quite explained, adding to the sense of uneasiness, the dialog is heartfelt and realistic, that’s why I found it easy to sympathise with the protagonists. What would you do if you found yourself in this situation? Of course, anybody would put their family before anyone else, but at what price?

​8/10

Written by  Mags.

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US Amazon

It Comes at Night (Blu-ray)

Aussie Amazon

UK Amazon

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​At $5 million, It Comes at Night can be considered a low budget but great film, similar to Unfriended, the Supernatural Horror which was made with only a million, not as good as It Comes, but close.