The Vast of Night

Name: The Vast of Night
Genre: Sci-Fi, Drama, Mystery, Thriller, Fantasy
Released: May 29, 2020
Duration: 91 min
Rating: 84
Cast: Adam Dietrich, Brandon Stewart, Bruce Davis, Cheyenne Barton, Gail Cronauer

2020

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 35 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 153 Ratings

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6.6

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6.6	Your Score
6.6	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 153 Ratings

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The Vast Of Night

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Movie Details & Credits

Amazon Studios | Release Date (Streaming): May 29, 2020 | PG-13

Starring: Adam Dietrich, Brandon Stewart, Bruce Davis, Cheyenne Barton, Gail Cronauer, Gregory Peyton, Ingrid Fease, Jake Horowitz, Mallorie Rodak, Mark Banik, Mollie Milligan, Sierra McCormick

Summary: In the twilight of the 1950s, on one fateful night in New Mexico, a young, winsome switchboard operator Fay (Sierra McCormick) and charismatic radio DJ Everett (Jake Horowitz) discover a strange audio frequency that could change their small town and the future forever. Dropped phone calls, AM radio signals, secret reels of tape forgotten inIn the twilight of the 1950s, on one fateful night in New Mexico, a young, winsome switchboard operator Fay (Sierra McCormick) and charismatic radio DJ Everett (Jake Horowitz) discover a strange audio frequency that could change their small town and the future forever. Dropped phone calls, AM radio signals, secret reels of tape forgotten in a library, switchboards, crossed patchlines and an anonymous phone call lead Fay and Everett on a scavenger hunt toward the unknown.… Expand

Director: Andrew Patterson

Genre(s): Sci-Fi, Drama, Mystery, Thriller, Fantasy

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 91 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Matthew Dessem

May 26, 2020

Every scene has been staged and shot with intelligence, intent, inventiveness, and a sense of play. To watch it is to get excited about the billions of different ways you can combine sound and moving images to tell a story. Read full review

100

Amy Nicholson

Jan 3, 2020

Patterson trusts that chemistry will compensate for a gentle thriller that chooses to impress with ingenuity and charm instead of special effects. Read full review

Monica Castillo

May 28, 2020

Complemented by the eerie work of sound designers Johnny Marshall and David Rosenblad and music by Erick Alexander and Jared Bulmer, The Vast of Night sells its mystery as a package deal, firing on all sight-and-sound cylinders to immerse its viewers in its story. Read full review

Alissa Wilkinson

May 28, 2020

In using all those technical aspects of filmmaking to tell this story, director Andrew Patterson manages to marry form and content beautifully. The tale is engrossing, reminding us that even the simplest technologies we take for granted now have an element of magic to them. Read full review

The Guardian Peter Bradshaw

Jun 1, 2020

With great style and technical bravura, the film takes us on a fairground ride, running on rails right up to the final question. Read full review

James Berardinelli

May 30, 2020

Although the narrative trajectory may be familiar, the specific path taken by director Andrew Patterson feels fresh. Read full review

Movie Nation Roger Moore

May 16, 2020

That said, it works, sucking you into its “vast night” and taking us all back to an innocent time where the future was endless possibilities, “radio” was how a small town kid punched his “ticket out of here,” and TV took you to “another dimension…the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition.” Read full review

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User Reviews

Qbert4551

May 30, 2020

Such a well written, superbly acted, well shot, excellently directed, lo-fi piece of sci-fi! Super good, two thumbs up!

7 of 16 users found this helpful79

Parsifal12

Jul 16, 2020

Superb writing, absolutely engrossing camera work, and a director who obviously cares deeply about his subject. Just another example of how movies don't need to cost hundreds of millions to draw you in. A splendid film.

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

Xenomorph_kills

May 11, 2021

A beautiful twilight zone esque film that puts its focus on making you care about the characters and create a concise story involving them. The directing of this film is outstanding as he chooses to make the most out of a little by making his shots feel like he a veteran of the craft. TheA beautiful twilight zone esque film that puts its focus on making you care about the characters and create a concise story involving them. The directing of this film is outstanding as he chooses to make the most out of a little by making his shots feel like he a veteran of the craft. The choices to build suspension with just voices make this film unique. This movie is damn near perfect sci fi film.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

Gdgip

May 30, 2020

This isn’t a bad movie the photography is very beautiful, but you can’t tell me the acting was good or that the script was engrossing enough to justify staring at people with emotionless expressions for long stretches. Rule breaking in the editing room isn’t fresh and would be aestheticallyThis isn’t a bad movie the photography is very beautiful, but you can’t tell me the acting was good or that the script was engrossing enough to justify staring at people with emotionless expressions for long stretches. Rule breaking in the editing room isn’t fresh and would be aesthetically un pleasing to anyone who wasn’t looking to give the production bonus points for being novel. There is no payoff.… Expand

4 of 5 users found this helpful41

Evilpoo

May 31, 2020

The vast of how to make a movie with 50 dollars. The trend of the meta crisis era

5 of 8 users found this helpful53

Deanomite

Jun 7, 2020

camerawork, photography, acting and lighting are all top notch. The script is very boring, up to 75 minutes in there are no relationships or plot points. blaaaah. High scoring reviews indicate Amazon is on top of the review as advertisement game.

2 of 4 users found this helpful22

sicvita

Jun 6, 2020

I simply refuse to watch a film with such aglaring grammatical error in it's title. For the title to make any sense it should read "The Vastness of Night" or even "The Vastity of Night" but as it appears here it makes no sense. Just pathetic, idiocracy has arrived I'm afraid.

2 of 15 users found this helpful213

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32	#32 Best Movie of 2020
51	#51 Most Discussed Movie of 2020