movie review it comes at night

It Comes at Night

Like a lot of horror movies, “It Comes at Night” opens with a death. An older gentleman, who is clearly very ill, says goodbye to his family and then gets shot in the head before his son-in-law and grandson burn his body. Did I mention they’re all wearing gas masks? From the beginning, confusion and loss reign in a film designed to keep you uncertain and emotionally raw.

Trey Edward Shults ’ second film—after the remarkable breakthrough of “ Krisha ” last year—takes place in a world ravaged by a horrendous disease, the kind of thing that kills you in a day and has left survivors scrounging for food and trusting no one. It’s not pretty. Your body bruises, your eyes go black, you puke blood. But this is no riff on “The Walking Dead” or “ 28 Days Later .” It’s important that Shults’ vision of the end of the world opens not with an attack but with the kind of event that forever twists the trajectory of a young man’s life: the death of a loved one. It is a movie in which the villains are loss, grief, pain, fear, and distrust—very human emotions—and it is has no traditional undead brain-eaters. There are no zombies in the streets, boogeymen in the basement or witches in the woods—and yet it is one of the most terrifying films in years.

Shults is very careful in the way he parses out bits of information about the world in which “It Comes at Night” takes place, even though almost the entirety of the action unfolds in a boarded-up house and the woods that surround it. Father Paul ( Joel Edgerton ) has very strict rules that are uniformly obeyed by son Travis ( Kelvin Harrison Jr.) and mother Sarah ( Carmen Ejogo ). Every window in the house is boarded up and there’s only one way out, through two locked doors, one of which has been painted bright red. If they need to go outside for any reason, they go in pairs, and they never go out at night.

Shortly after the burning of grandpa’s body, the family awakens to a sound in the “airlock room” between the two never-to-be-opened doors. Someone, or something, is in the house. After a bit of a terrifying scuffle, they discover that their invader is named Will ( Christopher Abbott ), and he’s just looking for water for his family, wife Kim ( Riley Keough ) and son Andrew ( Griffin Robert Faulkner ), who are in another abandoned house 50 miles away. They have food they can trade. No, they’re not sick. And yet there’s something about their story that doesn’t quite add up.  

Working at a peak of atmospheric horror rarely seen in only a second film, Shults and his ace cinematographer Drew Daniels (who also shot “Krisha”) create captivating visuals with in-scene light sources throughout “It Comes at Night,” from the dim illumination of a lantern to the harsh glare of a flashlight on the end of a gun. Working with a fantastic production design team, they ground “It Comes at Night” in a tactile world—you can smell the wood that makes up the house and feel the grime on their skins. Even when the action opens up to the woods outdoors, they find ways to capture the natural light coming through the trees in a way that never pretentiously calls attention to itself but adds to the tension. Everything adds to the tension in “It Comes at Night,” including the stellar sound design and the playful use of changing aspect ratios, as the perspective shrinks to clarify when Travis is having a bad dream … maybe.

The performances are uniformly stellar throughout “It Comes at Night” (particularly Christopher Abbott, doing his best work since “ James White ”), but the film surprisingly belongs to engaging newcomer Harrison, who becomes the eyes through which we see this story. We rarely know anything he doesn’t, and it’s his 17-year-old emotions that we come to equate with our own. In a sense, the adults are almost archetypal—the strict father, the supportive mother, the engaging male stranger & the sexy female one—further defining how much “It Comes at Night” works on emotional undercurrents as much as it does traditional horror tropes. It is about that day you think your father might be wrong; the day you realize your loved ones can die; the day you flirt with a pretty girl. It just also happens to be about what could be your last day.

Shults the screenwriter can sometimes push the refusal to answer questions about this universe to a point that will break for some viewers who need a few more rules and resolutions. I get that. My fear is that too many people will go into “It Comes at Night” expecting a traditional horror movie reveal in the final act or, worse, a Shyamalan twist. I would never spoil where a film goes but would only advise that you not try to get ahead of this one. Just take it scene by scene, beat by beat, and let the characters’ emotions work on you more than trying to solve the unanswered questions of this tale.

Most of all, “It Comes at Night” is a film in which the true elements of fear come from within, not from outside. Sure, it’s not exactly a new concept— George A. Romero , John Carpenter and Stanley Kubrick have created the cinematic templates for such a thing from which Shults openly cribs without ever feeling like he’s self-consciously paying homage—but it’s remarkable to consider how much horror mileage that Shults gets out of a film with no traditional villains. In a sense, it’s a reverse horror film, one that tells us, “Sure, the outside world is scary, but it’s distrust and paranoia that will truly be your undoing. The real enemy is already inside. Now try and get some sleep.” Good luck with that last part.

Brian Tallerico

Brian Tallerico is the Managing Editor of RogerEbert.com, and also covers television, film, Blu-ray, and video games. He is also a writer for Vulture, The Playlist, The New York Times, and GQ, and the President of the Chicago Film Critics Association.

• Christopher Abbott as Will
• Riley Keough as Kim
• Carmen Ejogo as Sarah
• Griffin Robert Faulkner as Andrew
• Joel Edgerton as Paul
• Kelvin Harrison as Travis

Cinematographer

• Drew Daniels
• Matthew Hannam
• Trey Edward Shults

Leave a comment

Now playing.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3

The Six Triple Eight

The Count of Monte Cristo

The Room Next Door

The Brutalist

Mufasa: The Lion King

September 5

The Last Showgirl

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim

Dirty Angels

Latest articles.

The Great Performances of 2024, Part Two

The Great Performances of 2024, Part One

Peacock Turns the Rom-Com Into a Game of Death in the Charming “Laid”

No Box He Won’t Escape From: James Mangold on “A Complete Unknown”

The best movie reviews, in your inbox.

We sent an email to [email protected]

Didn't you get the email?

By joining, you agree to the Terms and Policies and Privacy Policy and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By continuing, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

Log in or sign up for Rotten Tomatoes

Trouble logging in?

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes.

Email not verified

Let's keep in touch.

Sign up for the Rotten Tomatoes newsletter to get weekly updates on:

• Upcoming Movies and TV shows
• Rotten Tomatoes Podcast
• Media News + More

By clicking "Sign Me Up," you are agreeing to receive occasional emails and communications from Fandango Media (Fandango, Vudu, and Rotten Tomatoes) and consenting to Fandango's Privacy Policy and Terms and Policies . Please allow 10 business days for your account to reflect your preferences.

OK, got it!

• About Rotten Tomatoes®
• Login/signup

Movies in theaters

• Opening This Week
• Top Box Office
• Coming Soon to Theaters
• Certified Fresh Movies

Movies at Home

• Fandango at Home
• Prime Video
• Most Popular Streaming Movies
• What to Watch New

Certified fresh picks

• 85% Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Link to Sonic the Hedgehog 3
• 95% The Brutalist Link to The Brutalist
• 86% The Room Next Door Link to The Room Next Door

New TV Tonight

• 96% Laid: Season 1
• -- Fast Friends: Season 1
• -- Virgin River: Season 6
• -- Beast Games: Season 1
• -- Aaron Rodgers: Enigma: Season 1
• -- The Secret Lives of Animals: Season 1

Most Popular TV on RT

• 93% Black Doves: Season 1
• 84% One Hundred Years of Solitude: Season 1
• 81% No Good Deed: Season 1
• 90% Star Wars: Skeleton Crew: Season 1
• 69% Secret Level: Season 1
• -- La Palma: Season 1
• 86% The Day of the Jackal: Season 1
• 70% Dune: Prophecy: Season 1
• 75% Dexter: Original Sin: Season 1
• Best TV Shows
• Most Popular TV

Certified fresh pick

• 96% Laid: Season 1 Link to Laid: Season 1
• All-Time Lists
• Binge Guide
• Comics on TV
• Five Favorite Films
• Video Interviews
• Weekend Box Office
• Weekly Ketchup
• What to Watch

Best Movies of 2024: Best New Movies to Watch Now

100 Best Movies on HBO and MAX (December 2024)

What to Watch: In Theaters and On Streaming.

Awards Tour

Upcoming Video Game Movies and TV Adaptations

2025 Golden Globe Awards Ballot: Complete with Tomatometer and Popcornmeter Scores

• Trending on RT
• Awards Season
• Best Netflix Movies
• Renewed and Cancelled TV
• TV Premiere Dates

It Comes at Night Reviews

"It Comes at Night" is tightly comprised of excruciating moral challenges that escalate with time.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 4, 2023

Writer/director Trey Edward Shults builds so much tension with such vague storytelling, and I loved every bit of the ambiguity and metaphorical message it provides.

Full Review | Feb 22, 2023

It’s an unconventional horror picture. It’s a deep emotional treatment of loss. It’s a troubling, unorthodox coming-of-age story. The cool thing is how well Trey Shults packages all these things together without an ounce of conflict.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 22, 2022

Viewers unaccustomed to confronting and unresolved moral dilemmas may recoil.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Apr 4, 2022

An immaculately crafted film from a director who is at the top of his game, but the script is missing a few key parts to make it something truly special.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 29, 2021

A compact thriller that mostly succeeds until an ending that doesn't feel ambiguous as much as it feels unfocused and unfinished.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Oct 6, 2021

Writer/director Trey Edward Shults makes the most of the least, relying on shadow and sound to terrify.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | May 15, 2021

One of the most tonally cohesive and claustrophobic films of the year...

Full Review | Apr 14, 2021

Effective as both a deliberately paced allegory with a sense of dread throughout, as well as a horror movie you can take at face value that's full of solid jump scares.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Feb 6, 2021

This isn't to say that It Comes At Night is a bad film, but it is a disappointing one.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 24, 2020

Ends in such a way that will satisfy some and devastatingly disappoint others.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4.0 | Sep 12, 2020

An unrelenting apocalyptic mood piece about how people cope with the end of the world.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Jul 1, 2020

Deep and complex, filled with subtext and commentary on today's Fear Thy Neighbor mentality ... one of the most frightening films to come along in a while.

Full Review | Jul 1, 2020

Shults has taken a very personal story of loss from his own life and turned it into a source of suspense and fear that feels natural and honest, making it into the smartest and scariest horror film of the year.

Full Review | May 7, 2020

It Comes at Night couldn't be less interested in playing into [horror] tropes... instead choosing to use our knowledge and expectations of the form to keep us asking the right questions while wondering if we even want the answers.

Full Review | Mar 25, 2020

The performances are excellent across the board, with one truly impressive standout. As the 17-year-old Travis, Kelvin Harrison Jr. is the audience identification character.

Full Review | Feb 19, 2020

Like many of the current crop of art horror films, director Trey Edward Shults's film has a strong social subtext. Like most zombie movies, it's about what happens when society fails and it's every man and woman for themselves.

Full Review | Jan 15, 2020

It Comes At Night is a riveting, emotional affair whose frustrating nature mirrors the frustrations of the human condition.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 8, 2020

Like an art-house M. Night Shyamalan, Shults commands sterling production value and a stellar sense of mise-en-scene, but more aggressive auds won't find much to sharpen their teeth on with this allegorical wisp masquerading as nightmare fuel.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Oct 10, 2019

Horrifically mesmerizing with one hell of an effective score, the main flaw It Comes at Night seems to have is that its 90-minute duration goes by entirely too quickly.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 2, 2019

• Cast & crew

User reviews

It Comes at Night

Nothing comes at night.

• jonathonhegedus
• Nov 17, 2018

Hits pretty close to home

• May 29, 2022

a little clarity needed

• SnoopyStyle
• Oct 19, 2017

It was there all the time

• Jun 17, 2019

Disappointment comes at night

• lucy_brindley
• Oct 12, 2023

Nothing Comes At Night

• beefcakebuffstuddington
• Aug 28, 2017

Don't Understand the Hype

• Aug 11, 2017

WHAT comes at night???

• paulclaassen
• Jun 30, 2018

There is the inside and there is the outside.

• JoshuaDysart
• Jul 3, 2017

Is there really a story?

• Feb 8, 2024

What comes at night?

• Meckiezinha
• Aug 29, 2017

Minimal and moody horror/drama

• youngcollind
• Jun 23, 2022

Could Have Been Better and Better

• claudio_carvalho
• Sep 3, 2017

Disappointing

• kkeane-68234
• Sep 30, 2018

Don't go into it expecting something to come at night

• mariana-terremoto
• Jun 14, 2020

A Small-Scale Title with Bigger Implications.

• Jun 16, 2017

A Gritty and Brutal Take on the Typical "Apocalypse" Horror Sub-Genre

• birdy-89100
• Jun 8, 2017

Feel-Bad Movie of the Year

• evanston_dad
• Nov 14, 2017

Excellent film, befuddling to your average Transformers fan

• Sep 18, 2017

An exercise in effective minimalist horror

• Red_Identity
• Jun 10, 2017

A major disappointment and grim bummer of a suspense thriller to say the least.

• george.schmidt

What is coming at night? Because I still don't know.

• deloudelouvain
• Oct 29, 2017

Not a horror at all... but a VERY REALISTIC and EXTREMELY WELL CRAFTED post apocalyptic film

• JohnnyBreeco
• Jun 13, 2017

Overrated, just like "Don't Breathe."

• cherrycollllla

Disjointed, confusing and unresolved.

• Jul 17, 2017

More from this title

More to explore, recently viewed.

• For Parents
• For Educators
• Our Work and Impact

Or browse by category:

• Movie Reviews
• Best Movie Lists
• Best Movies on Netflix, Disney+, and More

Common Sense Selections for Movies

50 Modern Movies All Kids Should Watch Before They're 12

• Best TV Lists
• Best TV Shows on Netflix, Disney+, and More
• Common Sense Selections for TV
• Video Reviews of TV Shows

Best Kids' Shows on Disney+

Best Kids' TV Shows on Netflix

• Book Reviews
• Best Book Lists
• Common Sense Selections for Books

8 Tips for Getting Kids Hooked on Books

50 Books All Kids Should Read Before They're 12

• App Reviews
• Best App Lists
• Game Reviews
• Best Game Lists
• Common Sense Selections for Games
• Video Reviews of Games
• Podcast Reviews
• Best Podcast Lists

Common Sense Selections for Podcasts

Parents' Guide to Podcasts

• Big Kids (7-9)
• Tweens (10-12)
• Teens (13-15)
• Digital Parenting Anxiety
• First Phones
• Social Media
• Parental Controls
• AI Companions
• Generative AI

Parents' Ultimate Guide to First Phones (2024)

• All Parents' Ultimate Guides
• Family Tech Planners
• Digital Skills
• Quiz: How social media savvy is your child?
• All Articles
• Latino Culture
• Black Voices
• Asian Stories
• Native Narratives
• LGBTQ+ Pride
• Jewish Experiences
• Best of Diverse Representation List

Multicultural Books

YouTube Channels with Diverse Representations

Podcasts with Diverse Characters and Stories

Parents' guide to, it comes at night.

• Common Sense Says
• Parents Say 6 Reviews
• Kids Say 9 Reviews

Common Sense Media Review

Pessimistic drama/horror blend is dark and unsettling.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that It Comes at Night has been promoted as a horror film, but it's not exactly that. Nor is it a thriller or a sci-fi movie; it's more like an apocalyptic, deeply pessimistic, deeply unsettling drama. It's not the kind of scary fun that horror lovers usually enjoy, though it's definitely…

Why Age 18+?

Characters have gross, gory diseases: boils, black bile spilling out of their mo

A few uses of "f--k" or "f--king," plus "s--t," "son of a bitch."

Couple kisses in a bathtub (no graphic nudity) and in bed. Sex noises heard -- h

Characters share a cup of whisky. Later, a character takes a drink of whisky alo

Any Positive Content?

The central message isn't exactly clear, but whatever it is, it's extremely pess

Characters occasionally show reluctant trust and try to help one another, but pa

Parents need to know that It Comes at Night has been promoted as a horror film, but it's not exactly that. Nor is it a thriller or a sci-fi movie; it's more like an apocalyptic, deeply pessimistic, deeply unsettling drama. It's not the kind of scary fun that horror lovers usually enjoy, though it's definitely violent and mature. Characters have gory diseases, with boils and black bile dribbling from their mouths, as well as guns and shooting. Characters are killed, bodies are burned, people punch and fight each other, and there's a painfully injured dog. You can also expect nightmare sequences and disturbing images and sounds. A couple kisses n a bathtub and in bed, and sex noises are heard, but there's no nudity. Language includes a few uses of "f--k," "s--t," and "bitch." Characters share a casual drink of whisky.

To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Violence & Scariness

Characters have gross, gory diseases: boils, black bile spilling out of their mouths, etc. Injured dog, bloody fur, plus painful whining. Guns and shooting, characters shot and killed (including children). Dead bodies are burned. Punching, beating with blunt objects. Character are imprisoned, gagged, and tied to a tree. Scary nightmare sequences. Disturbing imagery and sounds.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Couple kisses in a bathtub (no graphic nudity) and in bed. Sex noises heard -- heavy breathing, groaning, etc. -- through walls (nothing shown). In a nightmare sequences, a woman kisses a teen boy.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Characters share a cup of whisky. Later, a character takes a drink of whisky alone.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Positive Messages

The central message isn't exactly clear, but whatever it is, it's extremely pessimistic, with no faith in human goodness or kindness. Clearly, however, the movie wishes viewers to discuss something . What does it all mean?

Positive Role Models

Characters occasionally show reluctant trust and try to help one another, but paranoia and brutality always win out. Those who are on the more loving and trusting end of the spectrum end up being punished for "letting down their guard."

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Parent and Kid Reviews

• Parents Say (6)
• Kids Say (9)

Based on 6 parent reviews

Don't waste your time

What's the story.

In IT COMES AT NIGHT, a mysterious, deadly disease has ravaged the land. Former teacher Paul ( Joel Edgerton ) has set up a fortress in the woods, complete with a stock of food and water, where he lives with his wife, Sarah ( Carmen Ejogo ), and teen son, Travis ( Kelvin Harrison Jr. ). Unfortunately, they've just had to shoot and burn Travis's grandfather, who was sick with the disease. One night, a strange man, Will ( Christopher Abbott ), breaks into the house. He's not sick but simply looking for food for his family, so Paul decides to let him, his wife ( Riley Keough ), and their young son stay. But something goes wrong. The family dog Stanley runs off into the woods, and then the little boy starts acting weirdly. Will Paul's stronghold withstand whatever's coming next?

Is It Any Good?

Trey Edward Shults, who made the powerful, harrowing Krisha , returns with a dark movie that's meticulously crafted and highly intelligent but also relentlessly pessimistic and deeply unsettling. It Comes at Night has been promoted as a horror movie, and it's certainly horrific, but it's not scary, and it's not likely something that "scary movie" horror fans will find enjoyable. It defies any other categories, too; it's not really a thriller (it's not thrilling), and it's barely a sci-fi movie (it's apocalyptic but not futuristic).

The movie depicts humanity in the darkest and most brutal of ways, without a shred of hope or goodness. And yet it has incredible use of sounds and movement, light and shadow -- all of which conjures up a vivid, visceral world. Travis, unable to sleep, wanders the house at night, lighting weird angles with a lantern and listening to muffled sounds from an upstairs perch. There's a constant sense of uncertainty and unease, as we realize that the greatest threats aren't the ones that can be seen -- or even heard banging on the red door.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about It Comes at Night 's violence . How does it contribute to the movie's disturbing quality? Is it graphic, or is it suggestive?

Is the movie scary ? Would you consider it a horror movie? Why or why not?

What do you suppose has happened to the world in this story? Where did the disease come from, and what will happen next?

What are the family relationships like here? Despite the dark circumstances, is any of the behavior similar to your family relationships?

Movie Details

• In theaters : June 9, 2017
• On DVD or streaming : September 12, 2017
• Cast : Riley Keough , Joel Edgerton , Carmen Ejogo , Kelvin Harrison Jr
• Director : Trey Edward Shults
• Inclusion Information : Female actors, Black actors
• Studio : A24
• Genre : Horror
• Topics : Monsters, Ghosts, and Vampires
• Run time : 97 minutes
• MPAA rating : R
• MPAA explanation : violence, disturbing images, and language
• Last updated : June 29, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

What to watch next.

Z for Zachariah

Melancholia

Into the Forest

Best horror movies, scary movies for kids, related topics.

• Monsters, Ghosts, and Vampires

Want suggestions based on your streaming services? Get personalized recommendations

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

Advertisement

Supported by

Review: In ‘It Comes at Night,’ a House Full of Guns and Family Desperation

• Share full article

By A.O. Scott

• June 8, 2017

This is turning out to be quite a year for horror movies. Pure coincidence, of course. And while the genre waxes and wanes like the moon over a creepy old house, it is unlikely to disappear as long as we have fears that need purging. It’s the nature of those fears that tends to shift over time — from the social to the psychological, from supernatural evil to human depravity, from what’s out there to what’s in here.

“ It Comes at Night ,” a rigorous and astute film written and directed by Trey Edward Shults , plays the outside-in dialectic beautifully. Initially, the premise looks like one we’ve seen plenty of times before: An epidemic has wiped out a lot of the population; food and water are scarce; survivors barricade themselves against contamination from the sick and competition from the healthy.

All of that is established quickly and obliquely. No zombies come shambling through the woods, and Mr. Shults doesn’t jolt the audience with false scares or showy plot twists. He builds up the dread with ruthless efficiency and minimal gimmickry, relying on and refreshing some of the oldest techniques in the book. The camera glides down a long, dimly lighted corridor. The soundtrack pulses with dissonant chords and heartbeat rhythms. (The score is by Brian McOmber.) Daylight is scarce, and shadows are long.

Paul (Joel Edgerton) and Sarah (Carmen Ejogo), with their 17-year-old son, Travis (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), and a dog named Stanley have turned a rambling country house into a fortress and a sanctuary. Grieving after the death of Sarah’s father (David Pendleton), they cling to a routine that they hope will keep them safe. Before long they are joined by another family, a younger, less somber mirror image of themselves: Will (Christopher Abbott), Kim (Riley Keough) and their little son, Andrew (Griffin Robert Faulkner).

Needless to say, the visitors bring complications as well as companionship. There is sexual tension between Travis and Kim, and masculine rivalry between Paul and Will. Mistrust simmers and occasionally breaks into the open. The forest, meanwhile, is full of strange sounds and movements. And the house is full of guns.

What happens is both shocking and, in retrospect, brutally inevitable. “It Comes at Night” is pretty terrifying to sit through, but it may be even scarier after it’s over, when you sift through what you’ve seen and try to piece together what it may have meant. Travis, who is plagued by nightmares, tries to do just that, and serves as the viewer’s surrogate. His perspective seems to be the only one we can trust, and he seems relatively sensitive, decent and innocent.

Not that anyone else is all that terrible. The two sets of parents are surely doing their best. But when Paul asks, “Do you know what people are capable of when they’re desperate?” it isn’t exactly a rhetorical question. Rather, it’s the problem Mr. Shults has set out to investigate, with a precision that is all the more unnerving for being fundamentally humane.

Mr. Shults’s first feature, the remarkable “Krisha,” was a family drama that often felt like a horror movie. “It Comes at Night” is the reverse. There are obvious differences of style and tone — “Krisha” was talky and busy; the new film is taciturn and austere — but the director’s preoccupations are as consistent as his sensibility. In both cases, people are thrown together in a house by circumstances they don’t control, and how they will deal with it all becomes an ethical text with stakes high enough to implicate the audience as well as the characters.

“It Comes at Night” is very much worth seeing on its own. It’s smart without making too big a deal of its own cleverness, and admirably thrifty. If you haven’t seen “Krisha,” though, I’d recommend a double bill, an early-career retrospective of the work of a spookily self-assured, slyly ambitious young filmmaker whose apparently modest stories have mighty implications.

Both films are about the impulse to preserve a sense of normalcy in difficult circumstances, and both reveal the cruelty behind that impulse. Paul and Sarah are not only struggling to save their family but also to hold onto a civilization — a sense of order, of dignity, of stability — that is in the midst of collapsing. If, that is, it ever really existed in the first place.

It Comes at Night Rated R. Utter darkness. Running time: 1 hour 31 minutes.

Explore More in TV and Movies

Not sure what to watch next we can help..

What Is a New York Movie? : Whether it was “A Complete Unknown” with 1960s Greenwich Village or “Anora” with present-day Brooklyn, filmmakers put new frames around the city .

From Bad Boy to Good Dad : Christian Slater’s tumultuous past has given way to a “very happy” family life . He plays a father on “Dexter: Original Sin,” too — but to keep a serial killer in check, you still need some edge.

Sex, Death and Nicole Kidman : Between her experience on “Babygirl” and her mother’s death, the star has come to understand a lot about women in unfulfilled lives .

Streaming Guides:  If you are overwhelmed by the endless options, don’t despair — we put together the best offerings   on Netflix , Max , Disney+ , Amazon Prime  and Hulu  to make choosing your next binge a little easier.

Watching Newsletter:  Sign up to get recommendations on the best films and TV shows  to stream and watch, delivered to your inbox.

• Entertainment /

It Comes At Night review: a moody horror film where humanity is the monster

Writer-director trey edward shults creates one of the year’s most gorgeous thrillers.

By Bryan Bishop

Share this story

Horror movies are never really about the terror they put on display. Even when monster movies are marketed and sold around a creature, they’re often just using those monsters as stand-ins. Instead, horror is a way to address larger societal concerns and fears, whether it’s the critique of white privilege in Jordan Peele ’s Get Out or the anxieties of modern sexuality in It Follows . 

Writer-director Trey Edward Shults ( Krisha ) embraces that schism wholeheartedly with his second film, It Comes At Night . The film’s creepy marketing campaign suggests it’s about a monster hiding behind a mysterious red door, or a survival movie about a plague that infects a family. Elements of both hooks are present, but those are ultimately reductive takes, ways of distilling a complex film simmering with ideas into something more simple and palatable.

Instead, It Comes At Night approaches horror as a framework, using it to construct a psychological drama about family, violence, and the pain of adolescence. It’s a meticulous piece of filmmaking, so honed and refined in execution that it becomes nearly unbearable at times. (Note: that’s a good thing.) But for a film that’s so intent on focusing on ideas rather than cheap scare tactics, it ultimately feels slightly hollow. It’s beautiful and harrowing, and undoubtedly an accomplishment, but it ultimately feels like Shults can’t decide what he wants to say.

It Comes At Night is set in some undetermined near-future. A plague has apparently wiped out vast swaths of humanity, leaving Paul (Joel Edgerton, sporting his best Kurt Russell beard) to defend his family — wife Sarah (Carmen Ejogo) and 17-year-old son Travis (Kelvin Harrison, Jr.) — in their house in the woods. The film opens with Paul killing his father-in-law, who’s suffering from the mysterious illness, before unceremoniously dumping the body into a grave and setting it on fire. 

As Paul and Travis watch the body burn, both hiding behind the gas masks they wear for protection, it’s an opening sign that Shults doesn’t plan to pull any narrative punches. His film is violent and matter-of-fact, with little room for luxuries like sympathy and regret.

Paranoia, fear, and doubt set in with disastrous results

The problem is, Travis isn’t suited for this environment. He’s an artist who feels closer to his dog than to his father. When a man named Will (Christopher Abbott) breaks into the family’s home, it sets off a chain of events that gives Travis a glimpse at a life beyond what he’s known. Paul and Sarah decide two families are better than one, so Will moves into their home along with his wife, Sarah ( The Girlfriend Experience ’s Riley Keough) and young son Andrew (Griffin Robert Faulkner). For a time, the makeshift arrangement actually works — but eventually paranoia, fear, and doubt set in, with disastrous results.

The premise of It Comes At Night doesn’t offer anything truly new. The post-apocalyptic survival tale, where people learn how society breaks down without the comforts of structure, is practically a subgenre in its own right at this point. At first, that makes it difficult to fully embrace Shults’ film — what initially seems like a big-screen version of The Walking Dead can only spark so much enthusiasm — but that grim, uncompromising brutality sucks the air out of the theater and makes It Comes At Night stand apart from its brethren. That, and the writer-director’s impeccable style as a filmmaker.

My colleague Tasha Robinson recently had a fascinating conversation with Shults about his film grammar and visual choices, and his insights reveal why, on a technical level, It Comes At Night is a wonder. Cinematographer Drew Daniels turns traditional horror visuals — Kevin waking up from a nightmare and walking down a darkened hallway, for example — into evocative moments that linger in the mind long after the film ends. The movie sometimes feels like a Baroque painting come to life. Daniels’ use of light directs the eye in constantly surprising ways, while creating an inescapable sense of dread. Brian McOmber’s score is equally evocative, a constantly building cacophony of noise and chaos that amplifies the ever-escalating on-screen conflicts.

For a film so full of tension, it is never really scary

The irony is that for a film so full of tension, It Comes At Night is never really scary. The film has a number of cheap jump scares and reveals, but they’re all part of Travis’ ongoing nightmares. At first, when it seems the film could go anywhere, the moments are alive and full of dreadful possibility. Once it becomes clear how the film is using those dreams — they’re opportunities to add spooky exclamation points to the all-too-human conflict in the waking world — they lose a significant part of their power. Shults is thoughtful, however, and he does pay off even that loss in efficacy — but it underscores a core problem with It Comes At Night. Just because a film is well-intentioned doesn’t necessarily mean it’s effective.

The film flirts with a number of fascinating ideas and themes. Travis is dominated by his overbearing father, who seems so obsessed with protecting his family that he doesn’t realize he’s emasculating his son at every turn. On the flip side, Travis is a 17-year-old, on the brink of manhood, with nobody his age to relate to, particularly not someone of the opposite sex. That comes to the forefront when he meets Kim. These dynamics present alternative, unusual takes on the typical post-apocalyptic scenario, and there’s rich material to mine there, particularly thanks to Kelvin Harrison, Jr.’s quiet, sensitive performance. But these ultimately end up feeling like situational dynamics rather than true, coherent themes. They’re there for a moment, then abandoned.

Shults has said this is a personal film, inspired by his father’s death. It’s clear he took great care in crafting It Comes At Night , and that he’s using the film to tackle many personal topics as both a writer and a director. Unfortunately, the movie never truly articulates any single idea in any satisfying way — other than a half-defeated, “Welp, everything sucks.” It’s a wonderfully crafted piece of filmmaking that’s nearly sensual in its aesthetic considerations, but as a meaningful piece of storytelling, it never fully delivers.

To be clear, films don’t have to have some big-picture takeaway, and there’s as much power in movies that function as sheer audio-visual experiences as there is in any other kind of production. The problem with It Comes At Night is that Shults is so clearly trying to reach for more. It’s a horror film that refuses to be bound by its own genre conventions. It’s a drama that wants to tackle ideas of masculinity, violence, and the relationships between fathers and sons. It’s a mesmerizing arthouse film with no qualms about embracing jump scares and slasher-movie tropes. But more than anything else, it’s an ambitious movie — a sophomore statement from a filmmaker just beginning to grow into his powers. It’s worth celebrating in that regard alone, even when it doesn’t hit the notes it’s reaching for.

2025 will be the year of the smart lock

Home assistant’s new voice assistant answers to ‘hey jarvis’, the delusion of amazon haul, the nintendo switch 2 and its dock, as described by the mystery reddit leaker, google fiber’s internet plans are getting simpler.

More from Culture

Netflix’s Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight was a big moment for Bluesky

Here’s some cool stuff you can do with Bluesky

Bluesky crosses the 15 million user mark

Reddit sleuths track down the band behind the internet’s most mysterious song