The Vast of Night

Andrew Patterson’s The Vast of Night opens with a camera push-in on older television, only it reminded me of what movies and shows from the 1960’s thought futuristic television would look like. The camera keeps moving forward as we see odd images float across the grainy screen, a Rod Serling impersonator introduces to tonight’s episode of Paradox Theatre, entitled “The Vast of Night.” I think that The Twilight Zone can still be argued as the best TV show of all time, so suffice to say, I was interested in what Patterson had to offer. And one thing’s for sure, he’s a fan of the story he’s telling down to the detail. The pleasures of this film are in those details, and your enjoyment will depend on how engaging you find them. If you don’t, then you’ll quickly wonder why this stretched out episode of The Twilight Zone is taking its time to get anywhere.

The story takes place sometime in the 1950’s in the very small town of Cayuga, New Mexico, on the night of a big High School basketball game. Nearly everyone in the town attends the game, save our two protagonists – a Switchboard operator named Fay (Sierra McCormick), and a radio DJ named Everett (Jake Horowitz). Fay is insecure and curious, while Everett is confidant and curious. The film slowly builds its atmosphere before things take a turn when Fay hears a strange sound coming through the radio and switchboard. She alerts Everett who broadcasts the sound on the air, asking for anyone who’s heard it before to call the station in hopes of an explanation. Soon an explanation comes, but it’s a mysterious one, and it leads Fay and Everett down a bit of rabbit hole that eventual forces them to look up.

As I said, the film takes a while to introduce us to the main focal point of the narrative. Patterson instead chooses to emphasize the contrast of the crowded gymnasium with the rest of the silent and small town. Fay and Everett are nothing if not talkative, with most of that talk playful in nature. The purpose of their early conversations is to drag the audience into the time period and setting, so that when the story chooses to take its first pivot, maybe we lean into the screen a little bit more, care a little bit more…because we already know where we are. Patterson does a wonderful job of creating a space for his story to play, a place not just on the screen in front of us, but an authentic illusion that only certain filmmakers are capable of. I admired the film greatly for doing this; others will already be asleep before the story kicks into gear. Luckily, if you’re in the second group, you’ll know…and I’d advise to stop the film then and there.

If you’re in the first group, then you’ll continuously find the film impressive, especially for its limited budget. Once Fay and Everett become engrossed in their situation, a layer of eeriness looms over everything. It never quite veers into horror territory, but leans heavily on a possible dread. All the while Patterson continues to be razor sharp in exacting his tone, from the score to the editing, and especially in the camera work, including a very impressive tracking shot that travels all throughout the town. Again, you’ll either find these aspects of the film to be the very reason you’re continuing to watch it, or you’ll wonder why they’re wasting more time moving the camera through an empty town when a simple cut would do.

The two lead performances by Sierra McCormick and Jake Horowitz become part of the movie’s illusion, one that makes you feel as though you’re watching something from a different era. I haven’t seen either one of these two in anything else, but I will look out for them from now on. The rest of the cast is just as perfect. The most sci-fi elements of the film are handled extremely well, walking the line between disquiet and wonder. The denouement left me a little less than fulfilled, but I suppose that’s how these stories tend to conclude. For those who can look up and imagine more than stars, The Vast of Night will reflect something back. Everyone else will be reminded that it’s time for bed.

Grade: B+