Movie Reviews

It Comes At Night might share its premise with a lot of other zombie movies, but it is something quite different from your average horror flick.

The movie’s opening scene doesn’t mess around. We see an old, obviously sick man getting escorted outside and then getting executed by his family. There’s been an epidemic that has spread worldwide and you can get infected by something that manifests at night. So when it’s dark, you better stay inside. Exactly what Paul (Joel Edgerton), his wife Sarah and teenage son Travis are doing. And that red door? Which is the only way in and out of the house? It stays locked no matter what.

Fifteen minutes later into the movie we still haven’t seen any zombies getting stabbed in the head, there is no gore and we don’t really get any background information about what’s going on exactly. What does happen is that Paul and his family kinda get forced into sharing their house with another family. At first everything goes great, but can the newcomers really be trusted?

It Comes At Night is an intelligent horror movie that plays out the paranoia and fear of the unknown that we have all become accustomed to. Just how far can you go to protect yourself and your loved ones before you lose your humanity and compassion?  Pretty deep, right? But even if you don’t feel like philosophizing, there is plenty to enjoy here. Writer/director Trey Edward Shults has succeeded in making a very compact, taut thriller that comes with plenty of menacing camera movements and an overall claustrophobic feel and that has more in common with Cormac McCarthy 's The Road than Dawn Of The Dead.