Review of The Vast of Night (2019) by Marakai — 26 Aug 2020

You’ll have heard the saying “sometimes less is more” and never has that been more true when it comes to debutant director Andrew Patterson’s impressive low-budget, sci-fi gem, The Vast Of Night.

Set in a small town in 1950’s America, Patterson’s film pays homage to classic science-fiction yarns of old like The Day the Earth Stood Still and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, or tapping into Tv shows like The X-Files and (far more obviously in its opening shot) The Twilight Zone.

The paranoia of this time in the U.S is evoked wonderfully and Patterson manages to do so with a meagre budget and two brilliant central performances from newcomers Jake Horowitz and Sierra McCormick.

From the opening scene, it grips and only expertly builds on that momentum with some inventive directorial touches; dialogue heavy scenes are lingered on, while sweeping tracking shots give a grander overview of the small town and there’s even fade to black moments that capture the wonder (or the dangers) of the night sky surrounding the characters.

This is hugely impressive filmmaking from a newcomer that plays out like a live action version of the now infamous and ill-fated Orson Welles radio broadcast of War of the Worlds that caused panic among its listeners.

Patterson keeps things very simple and doesn’t rely on special effects, instead showing a confidence in his material and as much as this may irk some viewers just remember... sometimes less is more.