[FANTASIA 2018] ‘THE NIGHT EATS THE WORLD’ Review

There have been zombie movies that capture a lot of different extreme emotions, but one I haven’t seen as much is loneliness. 28 Days Later — though not “zombies,” whatever – and Frank Darabont’s excellent The Walking Dead pilot have both toyed with the concept of the end of civilization, both stemming from waking up to discover everyone is gone. In those cases, other characters are introduced and alleviate some of the alienation. The Night Eats the World (La Nuit a devore le monde) explores being alone for the entire runtime. There’s a healthy dose of violence, but this isn’t a splatter fest. This may not sound like the movie for you, understandable, but I perked up once I realized that I was watching a different kind of zombie movie. The most threatening thing to our protagonist in this film isn’t the undead, it’s the character himself.

[AdSense-A]

After what seems like a harsh break-up, Sam (Anders Danielsen Lie) returns to his ex-girlfriend’s flat during a massive party in order to gather a box of cassette tapes, along with whatever else he’s left behind. While on his way to the room with his belongings he takes an accidental elbow to the nose and ends up passing out in the room he made it to while aiding his nosebleed. Upon waking up, Sam discovers he’s slept through the night uninterrupted, and the apartment is an absolute disaster zone: everything is broken, blood splatters the walls, and not a single person is in sight. He discovers people in the stairwell who are no longer people,  and figures out a way into the apartment below so he can hopefully escape. But there’s no escape here. Outside is nothing but death. Empty streets, empty buildings, and zombies.  What’s a guy to do? Stay safe. Go crazy. He sets up a drum kit. He talks to the only “person” he can, an elderly dead man trapped in a gated elevator. He ponders suicide. Then, finally, a moment of hope…or is it?

I’m being a little cagey with details because there are a few surprises and I found that not knowing exactly where we were going with this was the way to watch it. I really like the look of director Dominique Rocher’s debut feature. It’s a confident eye, exploring visually the space around Sam and how alone he really is. Atmosphere is exceptionally strong. There are some great, intense bits in here where I wasn’t exactly sure of our character’s fate, but for the most part this is a very quiet, somber, well paced character study. Anders Danielsen Lie delivers a stellar performance, especially considering that he’s in every frame and is (almost) alone for all of it.  Walking the line of everyman with a deep psychosis brewing to the surface, he displays a full spectrum of emotion in his eyes and his face. He gets to emote verbally as well occasionally, with his undead companion, and later another outlet.

Some would describe this movie as boring and uneventful, but it’s anything else. I was fascinated by the descent the man went into, the spiral of feelings that a lack of hope at the end of the world would send us all into. Night boasts some great make-up effects, a brisk enough pace, and a wonderful performance. Rocher’s got a bright future as a director, and this debut is well worth seeing.

Good news! In addition to playing at Fantasia 2018, you can watch the movie RIGHT NOW over at Amazon VOD from Blue Fox Entertainment!

[amazon asin=B07F2366RM&text=www.amazon.com]