I know that the marketing is labeling this as a horror, and many are saying that it was completely misleading. I get what they were saying. But after I saw it, this looks like a tough film to sell to a mass audience. It is certainly not your conventional horror. It is more of a thriller with elements of experimental horror. It is about the tension rather than scares, and that is the type of horror that I prefer.
The main story is not about an entity spooking a group of people as you might expect. It tells you about paranoia and psychology in a possible dystopian environment and who can you trust especially with food and water is at stake. The finale is most certainly going to be the part that will divide audiences. There is no climatic finish. It just simply stops.
I don't mind an open ending. Some of my favourite films has finales that leave it up for discussion afterwards. This abrupt one gave me the same feeling after No Country For Old Men. It had me going "oh, is that it?" because there were many plot points that never got resolved. It gave me that feeling of disappointment after everything else before that was pretty gripping and tense.
The performances were some of the most real I had seen for some time. Joel Edgerton was really subtle in his as the lead. He just felt a regularly guy, and that is something that is tough to pull for a big name such as his.
Kelvin Harrison Jnr. was a big stand-out. His character manages to become quite an integral one, and his performance really makes intrigued by this story-arch. Carmen Ejogo, Christopher Abbott and Riley Keough also contributed nicely.
Lot of the technical aspects were constructed so well. The score by Brian McOmber great. The use of strings and synthesizers, and how they weave between each other was a joy to listen to. It certainly gave me an eerie and chilling atmosphere that just adds to the tension.
The cinematography also becomes a necessary ingredient to the overall mood. It is shot beautifully and some of the tracking shots were executed masterfully.
While this is little dialogue, it felt very real. There is very little exposition, it is like a conversation you would expect to hear in the real world.
As well as the ending, another negative I would like to mention is a trope that horror films have, and that is dream sequences. You think it is something interesting, and yet it only happened in someone's head. In this film, they do a bit too much for my liking. I got the intention of them, as it added to the paranoia from one particular character. But I think taking out a couple of those moments would have been the better choice.
While I was gripped by this grounded story, loving the tension and slow-burning pace and enjoying the performances, the abrupt ending just made me feel conflicted in my enjoyment. I totally get why it was done. But it just became a dampener on my overall view of the film. It was like those episodes in The Walking Dead, where on the face of it, nothing much happens.
I can see this getting that same sort of vibe like The Witch did last year. While I really liked The Witch, It Comes A Night never left me as unsettled. It was good up to a point and could have been really good for me. This could well be the most talked about film this year due to its polarizing views on it.
Rating: 7/10
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