Direction: Andrew Patterson
Country: USA
Mounted as a retro sci-fi mystery film by debutant director Andrew Patterson, The Vast of Night might feel naive and rudimentary in its plotted intrigue but takes your mind beyond what it’s been presented through an uncanny atmosphere and arresting storytelling.
Wonderfully photographed by M.I. Littin-Menz (Machuca; Violeta Went to Heaven), the film, set in the 1950s in the small town of Cayuga, New Mexico, revolves around a previously unheard pulsating noise captured by the telephone switchboard operated by 16-year-old Fay (Sierra McCormick), a science buff, who was replacing her diligent mother. Soon she gets help from Everett Sloan (Jake Horowitz), a technology geek and radio host, who, during his nightly program, broadcasts an African-American caller affirming to know more about the audio signal. This coincides with a massive unidentified flying object detected in the sky. Equipped with recording material and encouraged by another caller, the lonely Mabel Blanche (Gail Cronauer), the two protagonists take the mystery in their hands.
Alluding to the Twilight Zone, the film, which took Patterson one whole year to edit, may feel like an exercise in mood but provides a great deal of entertainment in addition to technical competence. It’s very pleasing to see that unwarranted alien invasions are still able to produce excitement today. In this particular case, the fact that we are transported to a previous decade also affects the chemistry in a positive way.
