The Night Clerk

I really wanted to like this film. The portrayal of a young man with autism/Aspergers is incredible. That means the acting is also very good.

The one twist hits and the movie is way too short to have it be exciting. It heats up a bit at the end but it's still too short and there's not enough character development for you to really care. I'm starting to think maybe this movie would work better as a limited series or something - with a much better writer assigned to it. They really could've built it out but they failed.

So a bad script/bad execution failed really good actors and a good idea. I'd have to say skip.

Tye Sheridan really impressed me with his portrayal of a man with Asperger's. He is very convincing, from the lack of eye contact to his mannerisms. The story itself is a little slow, and lacks an emotional climax.

Those who are creeped out by Tye Sheridians character watching the hotel guests are looking at this act through the wrong set of eyes. His character Bart says he has to practice to be social so he is learning and mimicking what people say to be able to fit in better. It's more cerebral and those who don't like to think will not

The problem with 'The Night Clerk', and I've seen many films fall into this trap, is that it gives itself a really annoying lead character for the audience to have to follow and side with. Now there are two sides to that coin. One is that the character is unique and interesting to watch from a medical point of view, and that's why the movie puts him there. But the other side of that coin is that it becomes really frustrating and hard to watch very quickly. It gives the film a point of difference, but a point of difference for the sake of it isn't always enough.

Tye Sheridan does a fantastic job playing the lead role. He nails Aspergers syndrome. Before it was ever mentioned in the film I was 100% certain that was what I was looking at. He keeps it up for the entire movie and never drops a scene either. The other cast member who really impressed me was Ana de Armas. I came to learn of her acting talents in 'Knives Out' and she has impressed me again here. She didn't have anything overly special to do in the film, but you could still tell she was a class above the rest.

The film itself is a little obvious in what it is trying to set up and surprise the audience with. There's one scene in particular that they thought they were being subtle with, but in reality it put all the cards on the table and gave the game away. Also there is a mystery element of sorts to the film that, had it been handled differently, could have been really interesting. Instead it was just clunky and petered out to dust by the end. I think the thing to watch this film for is Sheridan's performance and as a character study of an Aspergers syndrome. Otherwise there isn't a whole lot going for it.

The lead player in this movie gives a compelling and super performance. He plays a person with a mental condition that causes him to have problems with connecting to others as well as being very obnoxious with everyone he meets.

Tye Sheridan is the actors name and he steals the show from beginning to end.

A night clerk at a hotel finds a way to secretly view and watch guests live in their rooms and one night he witnesses someone being murdered.

The clerk bocomes the main suspect.

I enjoyed this picture. My problem -maybe it it just me -but maybe not, I found it difficult to follow precisely was was happening and after the comclusion of the film I needed to go on line to find out about the other characters in the story and who was involved and also to discover an explanation for the ending.

For that reason I deduct 2 marks from my rating:

6/10.