It Comes at Night
It Comes at Night

Movie spotlight

It Comes at Night

2017
Movie
91 min
English

Secure within a desolate home as an unnatural threat terrorizes the world, a man has established a tenuous domestic order with his wife and son, but this will soon be put to test when a desperate young family arrives seeking refuge.

Insights

IMDb6.2/10
Rotten Tomatoes87%
Metacritic78/100
Google Users77%
Director: Trey Edward ShultsGenres: Horror, Drama, Mystery, Thriller

Plot Summary

In a post-apocalyptic world plagued by a deadly contagion, a family lives in isolation in their remote home. Their fragile peace is shattered when a desperate young couple arrives seeking refuge. Trust erodes as paranoia and fear grip the inhabitants, leading them to question whether the true threat lies outside their walls or within the group itself.

Critical Reception

It Comes at Night received widespread critical acclaim, with particular praise directed at its tense atmosphere, strong performances, and masterful direction. Critics lauded its psychological horror elements and its exploration of themes like fear, paranoia, and the breakdown of trust under extreme pressure. While some found the deliberate pacing and ambiguous narrative challenging, the overall consensus highlighted its effectiveness as a chilling and thought-provoking horror film.

What Reviewers Say

  • Praised for its suffocating atmosphere and intense psychological tension.

  • Lauded for strong performances, particularly from Joel Edgerton and Kelvin Harrison Jr.

  • Recognized for its artful direction and effective use of dread over jump scares.

Google audience: Audiences found the film to be a masterclass in suspense and atmosphere, appreciating its slow-burn approach to horror and its exploration of human nature under duress. Some viewers felt the ambiguity was frustrating, but many admired its bleak realism and unsettling tone.

Fun Fact

The film's title, "It Comes at Night," was inspired by a line from the Book of Revelation in the Bible, specifically Revelation 6:8, which speaks of death and Hades following the pale horse and its rider, with the power given to them over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine, plague, and by wild beasts. The line reads, "And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth."

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My Review

TMDB Reviews

4 reviews
Nathan

Nathan

It Comes at Night is very realistic interpretation of a post-apocalyptic world which follows a family trying balance survival with their own morality. I found almost every aspect of the story to be incredibly grounded; from the way the h...

The Movie Mob

The Movie Mob

**The marketing made me expect something this movie was not and ultimately dissatisfied me with what I got.** Marketed as a horror creature movie, It Comes at Night disappoints due to the severe lack of creature horror. Instead, the film...

Reno

Reno

**It's always family first in the apocalyptic world!** It was not what I was expecting, enjoyed it though. The trailer, the posters hints something else. So I thought it could be a horror, but it was even a terror or a thriller flick. We...

Gimly

Gimly

I don't need happy endings in my movies. A downer ending is often what makes a movie great. But I do like satisfactory ones. _It Comes at Night_ did not give that to me. Mystery is often its own reward, and I do believe that's what writer/d...