Andrew Peterson’s The Vast of Night is a throwback to the old shows and teleplays of the 50s like Playhouse 90, Twilight Zone, and Night Gallery. It’s a movie that demands to be seen in total darkness. Find a theater (if you can), a drive-in, or turn off all the lights in your home and experience the magic.
Our story begins on a typical Friday night in your average 1950s rural American small-town. Everett (Jake Horowitz) is a young teen broadcaster at the local radio station, and tonight he’s mentoring young Fay (Sierra McCormick) in the art of pre-game interviews. The two are hanging outside of the school basketball gym, looking for quotes from parents and locals about the night’s game.
“…the caller recounts a story of alien visitation. Another call comes in describing his role in a clandestine military operation.”
In the first of many continuous one-shots, Everett walks Fay home, and the two talk about radio, recording, technology of the future, and space. When Fay arrives at home, she quickly gets ready for her shift at the town’s switchboard, where she works as an operator manually patching phone calls.
The strange happenings on the outskirts of town create significant interference in some of the phone calls. The more Fay hears this sound she’s never heard before, she discovers it has a rhythmic pattern. She contacts Everett at the station, and he plays the audio over the air to the few listeners not at or turned into the basketball game, hoping someone recognizes the sound. He gets a bite when a person calls in and recounts a story of alien visitation. Another call comes in describing his role in a clandestine military operation. As the evidence builds, Everett and Fay start an investigation as more stories come to light.
"…the screen slowly fades to black, the audience, left in the dark, listen to the equivalent of a ghost story."
[…] Ng of Film Threat provided perhaps the most succinct summary of The Vast of Night’s success when he wrote, […]