The Night review: A psychological thriller for classical horror fans
Sometimes a horror movie does not need over-the-top scares to get the job done. It’s those subtle moments that we have every day that really scare us. When you think you see something move out of the corner of your eye or hear a voice when no one should be there. The Night does a good job of starting with these subtle scares before building to the more dramatic ones.
In The Night, Babak (Shahab Hosseini) and Neda (Niousha Noor) are a couple that has kept secrets from each other, and those secrets literally haunt them when they stop at a creepy hotel after a night with friends.
There is a lot to like about The Night but my favorite thing has to be the effort put into keeping the film grounded and making the characters and their reactions feel real. There is nothing more frustrating in a horror film than having characters react in a way no one would to certain things happening to them. Small details like Babak having a toothache for the duration of the film add a nice touch to the stresses the couple is facing.
At the beginning of the film, we meet Babak and Neda at a game night with friends. During this game night, we learn about Babak coming to America from Iran ahead of Neda and that Neda has not been in the states very long. She’s still settling in and they have an infant daughter. There are already signs of trouble in paradise and that becomes more obvious when Babak refuses to let Neda drive despite his tooth pain and the fact that he’s been drinking.
The Night will remind you of the work of Kubrick with some modern elements
They end up deciding to stop at a hotel after getting lost on their way home and nearly having an accident. The hotel is creepy from the onset but they are only going to need the room for a few hours so they don’t really care too much. They simply want to lay down and regroup before getting home in the morning. However, the hotel has other plans for them.
If you watched the recently released Netflix film His House, The Night will remind you of it in many ways. You have an immigrant couple in a confined space together. They are both experiencing weird happenings but initially don’t communicate this with each other. In His House, there is a shared trauma that each of the two is trying to forget but in The Night each one has something that they’re keeping from their spouse.
The hotel manipulates and pokes at them with these memories before eventually letting Neda know that she can end her suffering by bringing the truth to the light. We know this for the better part of the movie but the question becomes, how much are they willing to endure before they each confess to what they’re hiding?
Written and directed by Kourosh Ahari, The Night features a cast and crew that is comprised almost entirely of Iranian-Americans or Iranian immigrants. The primary language spoken in the film is Farsi so there are subtitles throughout. English is also spoken but mostly when the couple is in mixed company. This is another film that is so engrossing that you’ll forget you’re reading subtitles once you’ve been sucked in.
The trailer made that clear within one minute for me so be sure to check out the trailer below.
Another aspect of The Night that I appreciated, but is rare in horror films, is that the music is not overbearing. They don’t use music to tell you when to be scared for most of the film. The events speak for themselves.
This also allows them to deliver the scares at their own pace without using music to try to get your sense of dread heightened in different moments. There are many scenes where you sense that something is going to happen but you can’t time it and the scare is often not what you expect.
Speaking of which, the ending was one that caught me off guard. You will develop expectations for how The Night will go but, much like the scares, they do a great job of not feeding those expectations. Some may not appreciate the ending but I thought it was great. I know the ending can make or break a movie for some, it left me with something to talk about. Of course, this review is spoiler-free but you’ll want to watch this with friends or family so you can discuss it afterward.
The Night, via IFC Midnight, releases Jan. 29 in theaters and On Demand.