It Comes at Night 2017 * * 1/2 Stars

Director: Trey Edward Shults
Year: 2017
Rated R
Rating: * * 1/2 Stars
Cast: Joel Edgerton, Christopher Abbott, Carmen Ejogo

"You can't trust anyone but family". So quips the character of Paul played by Joel Edgerton. Joel yields paranoia, a quarantine protocol, and plenty of firearms in It Comes at Night (my latest write-up).

"Night" is distributed by A24 as box office poison. It is heralded as a psychological horror film but doesn't really horrify you. It Comes at Night is more of a paint-by-numbers thriller. It revels in pretension with tons of buildup, a forestry setting, and imposed, Hitchcockian nuances.

With its title being seemingly unclear (I never figured out what exactly comes at night), "Night" is one of those movies that saturates itself. It thinks it's more clever, more complex, and just plain better than it really is. "Night's" plot is a mere snapshot of a family trying to protect itself from a contagious outbreak that has taken over the free world. The flick's script gives us a set of rules for safety against said outbreak. Everything is taken so seriously to the point where It Comes at Night almost becomes paradoxical in nature.

In truth, I wanted to experience something more like the similar-themed Cabin Fever. That film upset me and occasionally humored my psyche. Regrettably, "Night" gave off a vibe akin to 2004's The Village. Not my ideal. It Comes at Night "comes" with a scattered, mixed review.

Director Trey Edward Shults (he helm-ed 2015's Krisha) provides meh dream sequences, occasional zoom shots, and some admirable tension. Yeah his "Night" is moderately stylish but lacks considerable atmospherics. Shults probably could've benefited from the advice of Sam Raimi, Eli Roth, or even Stanley Kubrick's resonant ghost.

Bottom line: Despite a decent musical score, some tightly would guises, and some effectively cautious acting from the leads (Edgerton, Christopher Abbott), It Comes at Night is kinda unceremonious. It is abrupt cat and mouse that misleads the audience with its fearful trailer. My rating: 2 and a half stars.

Written by Jesse Burleson