That Night

NOW ON TUBI! It’s an all-night booze-fueled adventure, Chicago style, in writer/director Zachary Trussell’s intoxicating feature debut, That Night. Stacey (Julio Alexander) is a budding graphic artist who works part-time in a tuxedo shop. He and his co-worker, Carolina (Emily Sue Bengston), sometimes hook up though they aren’t dating. She wants him to meet her at a party later tonight, but Stacey has prior plans with his buddy Joey (Oscar Mansky), which he can’t break. Those plans include another party at the apartment of his pal Schmidt (Michael C. Hyatt), who lets Stacey know that he plans to propose to his long-time girlfriend Andrea (Kendall McCarthy).

“…liquor-soaked calamities are in store for Stacey and his friends…”

Andrea’s cousin Lily (Julie Gester) is supposed to be there, which is awkward as Stacey and she used to be in a serious relationship. He still loves her. Stacey and Joey pick up their chum Luke (Terence Williams), who needs to pick up the engagement ring from his cousin. Sitting in a dark alley in the car, waiting for Luke, Stacey begins to feel this night may not go so smoothly. Little does he know what liquor-soaked calamities are in store for Stacey and his friends on the streets of Chicago.

I had a question by the end: does That Night misbehave enough to be considered a raunchy comedy? Yes, piss, s**t, puke, boners, and some very foul philosophical questions are all prominently featured. The running gag with the Uber drivers is delightfully obscene. However, by today’s standards of how low comedy can go, Trussell’s script maintains a surprising amount of good taste. He orbits the profane gags around a strong dramatic core that draws your attention like light into a black hole. So while the laughs may roll past on a river of bodily fluid, it is the life trajectories that will make you stay up all night with these characters. Rarely has someone captured the rhythm of a 20-something social circle as the filmmaker has here.