The Vast of Night 📻
The Vast of Night 📻
Happy Tuesday! A day late and a dollar short, but we’re here. I hope you had a great long weekend. I’m going to spend the next few weeks recommending some of my favorite movies from last year that didn’t make my top ten list (even if some should have).
🍿 Today’s movie: The Vast of Night evokes the best of The Twilight Zone
Today’s movie is Andrew Patterson’s science fiction directorial debut The Vast of Night (2020). Patterson, an Oklahoma native, wrote the film back in 2016 using the pseudonym James Montague with Craig W. Sanger. He was rejected by 19 film festivals before finally being accepted by the 2019 Slamdance Film Festival. Never give up folks. Here’s what it’s about:
It’s the 1950s. On the night of the big basketball game in their small town, two radio-obssessed teens (Sierra McCormick and Jake Horowitz) discover a strange signal on one of the radiowaves, which kicks off a mystery that leads them on a chase through the night. [Trailer]
Why you should watch it: The Vast of Night feels so familiar — like watching the New Year’s Day marathon of The Twilight Zone in a cozy blanket, with a mug of hot chocolate, and a bowl of popcorn (with M&Ms mixed in). However, it also feels distinctly modern like a Spielberg-produced indie. Like the best of the classic series, The Vast of Night features a high concept, but simple sci-fi story the unravels itself slowly throughout its running time.
We uncover new pieces of the puzzle as we run from high school gym to telephone switchboard to radio station. However, Patterson takes moments to get to know the characters through quickfire walk and talk dialogue that would make Aaron Sorkin proud while also building suspense through classic Hitchockian techniques. I’ll be watching it over and over again.
Have a terrific week.
See you Thursday —
Karl