‘Vast of Night’ a perfect pandemic-era movie [Unscripted column] | Entertainment

The average big studio movie has a certain common quality that makes it enjoyable to watch.

Fear of jumping in horror movies is pretty overwhelming unless you’re in a crowded theater and can laugh at the kids jumping in their seats.

Screaming on the screen – “No, no, don’t go into this room! The ax murderer is hiding there! “- is not so pleasant when you are not among friends.

That is why “The Vast of Night”, an independently produced, jump-free, atmospheric science fiction thriller, is the perfect film for our socially distant age. For the best results, watch it alone in a quiet, darkened room.

The feature film debut for 38-year-old director Andrew Patterson was shown for the first time at the Slamdance Film Festival in 2019 and was released to the masses on Amazon Prime last spring. The film was made on a relatively small budget of only $ 700,000 – just peanuts compared to most of the big releases these days.

Like most great low budget films, The Vast of Night’s financial shortcomings are its forte. The film is darkly lit, in part to save money, which increases the creep factor as teenagers Everett Sloan (Jake Horowitz) and Fay Crocker (Sierra McCormick) hear unnatural noises during their nightly jobs as radio disc jockey and telephone operator in a sleepy telephone operator 1950s desert city.

It’s also a long, chatty film. “Show, don’t tell” is a basic rule of filmmaking that this film often undermines with surprisingly good results. Much like Steven Spielberg learned when mechanical problems forced him to keep the title shark off screen for much of the “jaws”. A horror that remains largely invisible even for budget reasons allows the imagination to fill in the gaps.

That doesn’t mean that the film doesn’t have any eye-catching images.

In one of the movie’s most impressive highlights, we’re treated to a long, non-stop tracking shot that takes us through Fay’s work at the switchboard, down an empty street, across a meadow, through a running basketball game, and into the radio station where Everett works. It’s an incredible piece of filmmaking that gives the audience an idea of ​​the size of the tiny city of New Mexico, aside from being a feast for the eyes.

Set over the course of a single night, the film opens with all of town except Fay and Everett, who gather at the local high school to watch a basketball game. You get the feeling that the two of them aren’t too upset about missing the game for their overnight jobs – the Jabberjaw Fay would rather deny everyone’s ears about her new tape recorder while the sarcastic cool cat Everett jokes and teases around A nearly 20-minute opening scene that masterfully introduces us to the innocent relationship between our two main characters and the geography of the city.

Things start to get strange when Fay settles down for a night of work. The radio broadcast she hears broadcasts strange, indecipherable audio. Then she takes calls from people describing unnatural phenomena occurring in their homes.

Incidentally, all of this happens in an impressive single-shot performance by McCormick, who forwards calls through an old switchboard like a seasoned professional.

Fortunately, the film refuses to give in to the standard tropes of so many films that take place in the 1950s. Everett and Fay are a smart couple with scientific interests, but they’re not treated like goofy nerds. They’re both too smart and talented for the teenage town they live in – fewer than 500 residents – but can’t find a way out.

What’s even more striking is that the film doesn’t completely gloss over the injustices of the era. In one disturbing scene, Everett receives a call from a black man describing a mysterious job he got while serving in the military that points to a much bigger secret the government was trying to hide. It appears to you that the man’s race contributed to his being entrusted with such a role precisely because the government felt that he was less likely to be believed by the public.

Patterson also wisely avoids the Hollywood trope of unnecessarily adding romance to the story. Everett and Fay share an innocent, fraternal affection for one another, but you won’t see these two children smooch.

I won’t spoil the rest, but I will say that “The Vast of Night” rewards a patient viewer who appreciates slow build-up rather than constant cheap excitement. This is a calm, atmospheric film that is best enjoyed by viewers who would rather bathe in the carefully crafted, contemporary set and enjoy the relationship between two young actors than people looking for a thrill. It’s best to watch unaccompanied, not on a crowded movie night with friends.

In other words, it’s a perfect pandemic movie.

“The Vast of Night” can be streamed on Amazon Prime.

“Unscripted” is a weekly entertainment column produced by a rotating team of writers.

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