The Night – A Simple Yet Effective Horror-Thriller (Early Review)

When it comes to films, sometimes the simplest films can be the most effective, be it limited casts, sets, and simple stories. For those films to succeed, it has to nail all the little things. The Night is a compelling Iranian psychological horror/thriller that is sure to leave most viewers on the edge of their collective seats thanks to its great uneasy ambiance it creates throughout. However, some pacing issues and the lack of character development makes for uninteresting characters therefore lessening the intended impact of what it appeared to want to do in terms of scares and psychological torture. While the story doesn’t necessarily make the most sense, the film will ultimately succeed or fail based on viewers ability to get behind the film’s main characters and look past the insidious force that appeared to be behind their torment for whatever reason that was never really explained. Fortunately Shahab Hosseini and Niousha Noor were definitely up to the task here.

The Night follows an Iranian married couple named Babak (Hosseini) and Neda Naderi (Noor) who found themselves trapped inside a seemingly normal hotel after a series of insidious events forces them to face their deepest darkest secrets. Early on, it was clear there was some friction there but whatever was going to come from it wasn’t necessarily clear. On their way home from a visit to some friends, Babak and Neda’s travels took them the Normandy Hotel, a hotel that seemed innocent enough until it wasn’t which shouldn’t come as that much of a surprise to anyone. What the film certainly gets right was that aforementioned ambiance thanks to its score, cinematography, and sound design. Viewers are made to feel uneasy along with these characters as both are trying to figure out what was going on.

While things could have moved at a much faster pace, it was clear was that whatever or whomever was responsible tapped into the Naderis’ dark secrets whether they wanted to acknowledge it or not. Stressed and tired, all they wanted to do was leave but that would be easier said than done as in order to escape, Babak and Neda essentially needed to face their secrets and each other. Over the course of the film, things got more crazy as the stakes continued to go up. In the end, it was tough to care about them and their predicament. Meanwhile, the film stumbled on its way to the finish as it attempted to tie it all together. The ending’s ambiguous nature won’t sit well with some. Ultimately, the best part of The Night was the solid performances from Hosseini and Noor as Babak and Neda Naderi who did a decent job at pulling viewers into their relationship conflict. That element was much more interesting than the horror/thriller aspects, however, the balance wasn’t quite there.

At the end of the day, The Night is a decent, small-scale horror/thriller whose impressive ambiance makes it well worth the watch.

still courtesy of IFC Films

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.