Wednesday 10 January 2018

It Comes at Night - Review - 7.7/10 *SPOILERS*

I managed to watch It Comes at Night last night when I should have been sleeping (school's rough). I thoroughly enjoyed it, as it was highly praised by classmates of mine. It was my understanding that most people who saw it last year had a lot of negative reactions to it, so I didn't really bother. However, after seeing it on Netflix, I can honestly say, it did not deserve the hate that it received. The problem that led to it's generally negative response was the marketing. It was marketed as a generic horror movie, when in reality it is a psychological thriller with a few elements of horror. It takes place in a world where an unknown illness that has been implied to have wiped out much of the human race. That isn't the point though, the sickness isn't the focus of the story. It is a smaller and well contained story surrounding two families that end up having to share a house and work together to make a life in this new world. Travis, played by Kelvin Harrison Jr., is the 17 year old who is arguably the main protagonist of the film. He's plagued by nightmares that form metaphors for events going on in the real world, and these visions he has help to progress the story by giving a sneak peak into upcoming events. The movie has an excellent story, a solid cast, and really cool ideas presented to the thriller genre, but ultimately, it's downfall came from the false marketing of what the movie was, subverting audiences expectations for what kind of film they were going to see. I give the movie a 7.7, a win in my books.