'It Comes At Night' Review: The movie depicts humanity in the darkest and most brutal of ways!

8.8/10

Written and directed by Trey Edward Shults

Starring: Joel Edgerton, Christopher Abbott, Carmen Ejogo,Kelvin Harrison Jr. and Riley Keough

Trey Edward Shults, who made the powerful, harrowing Krisha, returns with a dark movie that's meticulously crafted and highly intelligent. It Comes at Night has been promoted as a horror movie, and it's certainly horrific, but it's not scary, and it's not likely something that "scary movie" horror fans will find enjoyable. It defies any other categories, too; it's not really a thriller, and it's barely a sci-fi movie (it's apocalyptic but not futuristic) but I love it still the same.

The movie depicts humanity in the darkest and most brutal of ways, without a shred of hope or goodness. And yet it has incredible use of sounds and movement, light and shadow -- all of which conjures up a vivid, visceral world. Travis, unable to sleep, wanders the house at night, lighting weird angles with a lantern and listening to muffled sounds from an upstairs perch. There's a constant sense of uncertainty and unease, as we realize that the greatest threats aren't the ones that can be seen -- or even heard banging on the red door.

It Comes At Night is predominantly about fear and the fear of other people, and the violent ways in which that fear can manifest itself and the paranoia which then amplifies that fear. In this case it perfectly shows how easily seemingly good people can turn on each other.

It's not just the distrust between the characters that makes the film create the uneasy atmosphere of horror; it's the distrust between the audience and those characters, too.

The hole cast was exceptional but for me the 3 standout stars were (obviously) Edgerton, Abbott and Harrison Jr. Another film I have loved brought to us by A24 and Mr. Shults.