It Comes at Night

This was beautifully created and a suspenseful setting but was deeply lacking in storyline. So little actually occurred that I was already confused 40 mins in. If it weren't for Joel Edgerton I would have shut this down 1/3 of the way in. It was confusing, incongruent and frankly a little boring. I patiently waited though and saw it through. Alas the climax was so disappointing I was in shock... and it didn't even happen at night!!! What the hell was coming at night??? Nothing came... even during the day. Not cool... not a horror film, barely a thriller, just a shame.

There's a lot of discussion on here as to whether this film constitutes a horror film or something more akin to a psychological drama.

As a horror film, I didn't find the film scary, and as a psychological drama, not particularly fresh in what it was presenting. I consider 'The Road' as a much, much stronger example of a film that blends horror and psychological drama - in exploring the limits of humanity & family in an apocalyptic setting.

It's nonetheless a well-made film with fine performances, but I came into the film expecting...something great, which it wasn't. That's hype for you.

This movie doesn't fail to scare; worse, it blatantly doesn't even try.

I don't know if I'm more disappointed by movies that you can tell will be crap just by looking at the lighting and camera-work, or a movie that's actually pretty decent in terms of techy stuff and casting and acting and atmosphere and yet miserably fails to deliver. Yeah I think it's the latter. At least with cheap looking movies you know the risk.

If you look at this as a movie that explores "the human condition" or something like that, you might find some merit in it. However, it's advertised as a horror movie, which, by definition, needs to at least TRY to scare audiences. Such a disappointment.

All in all I'm just left wondering what the critics must have watched to give this such high scores. I'll think twice in the future before I watch something trusting Joel Edgerton's name.

A beautifully shot, lovely scored and well-acted film. Shame it is dull and disappointing. I'm all for psychological horror but I really think this film has been misrepresented as genres it just cannot live up to. A few nightmare sequences does not a horror make! Honestly, I feel like it is a great film in its own right but my expectations left me feeling as through it was three quarters of what it could have been. I feel so guilty saying this, but temper your expectations. I wish I had too. If that doesn't turn you off, then go for it - it really is a well-made movie and does do a good job of creating tensions, despite the lack of payoff.

It takes a lot for me to dislike a film. It has to be a complete and utter waste of my time, and even then it could still have some redeeming values. Its hard to label It Comes at Night. On one hand, its a slow paced descent into the deepest throes of the human psyche, and on the other hand it is an utterly depressing and hopeless look at humanity.

I tend to lean on the latter part of my assessment, mainly because there is just so much reality to this parable about a world ravaged by a deadly virus (yeesh, imagine if this came out in 2020). More than anything, this film pretty much predicted what could happen if a disease truly did start randomly killing people with no quarter. Society would turn on itself, and it would become a battle of the fittest and prepared, and in some cases, best armed. I don't fault anyone for not liking this film. It's a hard slog and a depressing one at that. I appreciate the fact the film didn't try to sugarcoat anything. I truly believe humanity would turn on each other in a similar way.

Is the movie well made? Sure, I had no problems with the pacing or the reality of the story. Beyond that, there is not much else to say about this film. It's a simple survival story and every person's opinion of it hinges on whether they believe humanity is ultimately selfish (much like myself) or you were looking for a standard horror/thriller that would try holding a mirror up and asking what you would do in that situation.