It Comes at NightThe legacy of the world is forged from the behaviors of its forefathers. It Comes at Night is a psychological horror movie about a small family trying to survive in the wake of some menacing yet vague epidemic which has apparently ravaged the world. The family consists of the generally soft-spoken yet uncompromising patriarch, Paul (Joel Edgerton), the pragmatic mother, Sarah (Carmen Ejogo), and their seventeen-year old son, Travis (Kelvin Harrison Jr.). After Travis' grandfather, Bud (David Pendleton), develops boils that indicate he is infected, he is euthanized by Paul, and Travis' subsequent nightmares begin to unravel his mind.
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The plot of It Comes at Night is reminiscent of a post-apocalyptic disaster movie, like the popular "The Walking Dead" franchise, although there are no apparent zombies in this film. The comparison comes from the human drama surrounding this event, which fundamentally alters the rules of society and people's behavior toward one another. Under other circumstances, Paul would likely be misinterpreted as a tyrannical authority figure, dispensing severe and sometimes lethal discipline. On the other hand, Paul is portrayed as a reluctant enforcer of these rules designed to keep his family safe and secure, and a loving father. This raises the question about how effective Paul truly is in this role; Travis is present when Paul executes Bud, even though the film implies that this was necessary due to the virulent infection. Paul does not have a background in survival; he confesses that he was a history teacher in his "former life". Paul's obsessive need to control a situation comes from his trepidation at failing at a crucial task for which he is not expertly trained. This analysis of Paul is meant to better understand the kind of paranoid terror which grips him, and this is passed on and processed by his son, Travis, since children often interpret how to behave in the world by observing their parents.
The "it" of It Comes at Night would normally imply some monster or other intrusive force in a horror movie, but here it describes the nightmares which plague Travis, just as a very real plague has ravaged the world. Travis is fundamentally our "filter" for perceiving the world of It Comes at Night. It's likely that he experienced nightmares prior to witnessing the death of his grandfather, but it is suggested that they have spiked in frequency in the aftermath. They are preceded by a fade to black, and often times--like the worst of nightmares--are indistinguishable from reality. This terror is exacerbated by the nightmare world in which Travis has lived his adolescent life. It is unclear when this pandemic struck, but it is implied that it has been some time...years perhaps. At seventeen, Travis has not experienced much of the world; while he is smart, he has not been given a comprehensive education befitting his age, evidenced by a moment which suggests he doesn't understand measurements like "a foot and a half". This is ironic considering that his father was a teacher, but it is also clear that Paul has been mentally taxed in turning the family house into a sustainable and defensible bunker. A painting by Hieronymus Bosch has become fixated in Travis' mind, of a nightmare-styled world gone mad--Bosch was a Dutch painter, as like his fellow countryman, Rembrandt, was also described as a master of light and shade. Much of It Comes at Night is like a deep, black painting full of darkness by Rembrandt, where the shadows are tangible, oozing along the haunted woods at night, and branches pulse outward like veins as flashlights cross over them. It is reasonable to assume that Travis has an interest in the arts, and this image is the result of some memory from his time before the world became a metaphorical nightmare.
While Travis' parents care for him, it's clear that they have overlooked talking with him about the "birds and the bees". The paranoia which feeds Travis' stress levels is also due to a burgeoning sexual maturity he does not understand. After Paul discovers and thwarts a break-in attempt by a man named Will (Christopher Abbott), he eventually agrees to let Will bring his family into their home, including Will's attractive wife, Kim (Riley Keough), and their son, Andrew (Griffin Robert Faulkner). After Travis sees Kim--and later hears her making love to her husband at night--he dreams of her coming into his room and straddling him. But when she goes to kiss him, he dreams that she is oozing pestilence from her mouth into his. The dream paradoxically pairs revulsion and arousal, but perfectly captures the misunderstood sensation of sex as a sinful act--a very common sentiment for a teenager. Paul and Sarah are unconsciously overprotective of Travis, justifying their "overparenting" and insulating him from the outside world, because it is a genuinely dangerous place. More dangers than just the plague exist; Paul's trip to help Will reclaim his family is nearly stopped short when they are set upon by a pair of armed bandits--even though these bandits look as "normal" as Paul or Will. A theme in It Comes at Night is that those who are to predisposed to see demons lurking in the shadows will find them, and those who mistrust others will be perceived as untrustworthy. The pervading sense of anxiety and doubt between the two families is swept aside after they all seem to get along well with one another in the early days. They play games around the glow of their rechargeable lanterns, and laugh like old friends. They eat dinner together, and Will teaches Travis how to chop wood; in turn, Travis scrounges up old toys and crayons and gives them to Andrew. But deep down, this sentiment is superficial, and all it takes is one small inconsistency to dispel that trust. What follows is an escalation of tension and menace, coming to a head after discovering what happened to Travis' missing dog, Stanley.
It Comes at Night follows the trend of modern horror movies like The Witch--also released by A24--where the monsters that haunt people are catalysts for the more devastating psychological demons that follow. There is also the leitmotif that the woods--and by extension, nature--are not a place of security, but a malevolent darkness which ultimately devastates families that try to carve a place for themselves in it. The overall sense of distrust and accompanying tension has led to It Comes at Night being compared favorably to the early works of John Carpenter, like his masterpiece of paranoid isolation, The Thing. It Comes at Night also shares elements in common with Stanley Kubrick's psychological horror movie masterpiece, The Shining, especially the "cabin fever" and the associated psychosomatic manifestations of evil. Travis' nightmares are so potent that he experiences both false awakenings, and also lingering after-images from his dreams. This further distorts his perception of reality, turning his world into a nightmare like the painting of Bosch that haunts him. His dreams of the long hallway leading to the house's ominous red door is like the long hallways of the Overlook Hotel in The Shining--a tunnel leading to a dark revelation or transformation. The funereal tones and long notes held on the musical score highlight the hellish state of the world implied beyond the house and the deathly stagnation of Travis' mind and soul. His dreams of the attractive red door is also a psychological cry for escape from his family and a want to experience a world--any other world--that is different than the horrors contained within these walls.
Recommended for: Fans of a deep and dark psychological horror movie, which focuses on themes of isolation and paranoia, and of the tenuousness of trust. It Comes at Night can also be read as a coming-of-age story, and the traumatic experiences that accompany it, heightened by the grim backdrop of a post-apocalyptic wasteland of a world.
The "it" of It Comes at Night would normally imply some monster or other intrusive force in a horror movie, but here it describes the nightmares which plague Travis, just as a very real plague has ravaged the world. Travis is fundamentally our "filter" for perceiving the world of It Comes at Night. It's likely that he experienced nightmares prior to witnessing the death of his grandfather, but it is suggested that they have spiked in frequency in the aftermath. They are preceded by a fade to black, and often times--like the worst of nightmares--are indistinguishable from reality. This terror is exacerbated by the nightmare world in which Travis has lived his adolescent life. It is unclear when this pandemic struck, but it is implied that it has been some time...years perhaps. At seventeen, Travis has not experienced much of the world; while he is smart, he has not been given a comprehensive education befitting his age, evidenced by a moment which suggests he doesn't understand measurements like "a foot and a half". This is ironic considering that his father was a teacher, but it is also clear that Paul has been mentally taxed in turning the family house into a sustainable and defensible bunker. A painting by Hieronymus Bosch has become fixated in Travis' mind, of a nightmare-styled world gone mad--Bosch was a Dutch painter, as like his fellow countryman, Rembrandt, was also described as a master of light and shade. Much of It Comes at Night is like a deep, black painting full of darkness by Rembrandt, where the shadows are tangible, oozing along the haunted woods at night, and branches pulse outward like veins as flashlights cross over them. It is reasonable to assume that Travis has an interest in the arts, and this image is the result of some memory from his time before the world became a metaphorical nightmare.
While Travis' parents care for him, it's clear that they have overlooked talking with him about the "birds and the bees". The paranoia which feeds Travis' stress levels is also due to a burgeoning sexual maturity he does not understand. After Paul discovers and thwarts a break-in attempt by a man named Will (Christopher Abbott), he eventually agrees to let Will bring his family into their home, including Will's attractive wife, Kim (Riley Keough), and their son, Andrew (Griffin Robert Faulkner). After Travis sees Kim--and later hears her making love to her husband at night--he dreams of her coming into his room and straddling him. But when she goes to kiss him, he dreams that she is oozing pestilence from her mouth into his. The dream paradoxically pairs revulsion and arousal, but perfectly captures the misunderstood sensation of sex as a sinful act--a very common sentiment for a teenager. Paul and Sarah are unconsciously overprotective of Travis, justifying their "overparenting" and insulating him from the outside world, because it is a genuinely dangerous place. More dangers than just the plague exist; Paul's trip to help Will reclaim his family is nearly stopped short when they are set upon by a pair of armed bandits--even though these bandits look as "normal" as Paul or Will. A theme in It Comes at Night is that those who are to predisposed to see demons lurking in the shadows will find them, and those who mistrust others will be perceived as untrustworthy. The pervading sense of anxiety and doubt between the two families is swept aside after they all seem to get along well with one another in the early days. They play games around the glow of their rechargeable lanterns, and laugh like old friends. They eat dinner together, and Will teaches Travis how to chop wood; in turn, Travis scrounges up old toys and crayons and gives them to Andrew. But deep down, this sentiment is superficial, and all it takes is one small inconsistency to dispel that trust. What follows is an escalation of tension and menace, coming to a head after discovering what happened to Travis' missing dog, Stanley.
It Comes at Night follows the trend of modern horror movies like The Witch--also released by A24--where the monsters that haunt people are catalysts for the more devastating psychological demons that follow. There is also the leitmotif that the woods--and by extension, nature--are not a place of security, but a malevolent darkness which ultimately devastates families that try to carve a place for themselves in it. The overall sense of distrust and accompanying tension has led to It Comes at Night being compared favorably to the early works of John Carpenter, like his masterpiece of paranoid isolation, The Thing. It Comes at Night also shares elements in common with Stanley Kubrick's psychological horror movie masterpiece, The Shining, especially the "cabin fever" and the associated psychosomatic manifestations of evil. Travis' nightmares are so potent that he experiences both false awakenings, and also lingering after-images from his dreams. This further distorts his perception of reality, turning his world into a nightmare like the painting of Bosch that haunts him. His dreams of the long hallway leading to the house's ominous red door is like the long hallways of the Overlook Hotel in The Shining--a tunnel leading to a dark revelation or transformation. The funereal tones and long notes held on the musical score highlight the hellish state of the world implied beyond the house and the deathly stagnation of Travis' mind and soul. His dreams of the attractive red door is also a psychological cry for escape from his family and a want to experience a world--any other world--that is different than the horrors contained within these walls.
Recommended for: Fans of a deep and dark psychological horror movie, which focuses on themes of isolation and paranoia, and of the tenuousness of trust. It Comes at Night can also be read as a coming-of-age story, and the traumatic experiences that accompany it, heightened by the grim backdrop of a post-apocalyptic wasteland of a world.