If you are into UFO or mystery-laden extraterrestrial movies, you must watch “The Vast of Night”, now streaming on Amazon Prime Video. Set in the 1950s, the film’s tiny plot fleshes out beautifully a story that is not only engaging but also entertaining, leaving a lot to our imagination beyond a conspiracy theory.

“The Vast of Night” does not pace into to show the vastness of the night, but the whole idea of what could possibly go wrong or happen in a night that could never happen in daylight. The darkness of night certainly hides many mysteries of nature and pushes our minds to think more about the very existence of our planet Earth and the possibility of life outside our environment.

The film introduces us to a fateful night in New Mexico, in the twilight of the 1950s when most of the folks in the small town are busy catching a school basketball match. Bringing some energy to the otherwise silent night, young switchboard operator Fay (Sierra McCormick) and charming radio jokey Everett (Jake Horowitz) discover a strange audio frequency that prompts them to search for the unknown.

Watch the trailer of “The Vast of Night” – Now Streaming on Amazon Prime

Written by James Montague and Craig W. Sanger, and directed by Andrew Patterson, “The Vast of Night” is one of those classic sci-fi movies we were missing for a long. On paper, it might look thin – like any other film based on a conspiracy theory, but it is artistically beautiful. The radio may be in the theme, yet it vividly depicts the images in our minds and instills the unknown fear.

Interestingly, the storyline is based only on a single night and it is remarkable how Patterson drives the message so brilliantly. It is also to see how filmmakers with a lesser budget can successfully sketch something that stays so engaging and ominous till the climax.

The performances of Sierra McCormick and Jake Horowitz are praiseworthy

Besides, the performances by Sierra McCormick and Jake Horowitz could not have been better. They complement each other as they dig into the mystery. The acting, the dialogues, and the chemistry between characters become even more crucial when the film does not offer much in terms of action, violence, or visually weird occurring. In fact, “The Vast of Night” shines here just by driving our imagination, allowing us to go with the possible strangeness – when it says that “there’s something in the sky”.

We might get that the film is somehow inspired by “The X-Files,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “The Twilight Zone,” “American Graffiti,” or any other (you may recall), but it has its authenticity and visual appeal. In fact, the ending of “The Vast of Night” itself is creepy enough and could be the best explanation of what could go wrong. This also suggests that the film might have drawn inspiration from the 1965 Kecksburg UFO incident and the late 1960s disappearance of people whose bodies were found decades later in Oklahoma lake.

Overall, “The Vast of Night” is a great film to watch. Sadly, most of us could not catch it in theatre because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Even though it has no action, it could have been great to watch the film in the darkness of a theatre, with its quality music and sound design. Nevertheless, you may stream it on Amazon Prime Video.

“The Vast of Night” – Additional Details

Director: Andrew Patterson
Starring: Sierra McCormick, Jake Horowitz, Gail Cronauer, Bruce Davis, Cheyenne Barton, Gregory Peyton
Genres: Drama, Suspense, Science Fiction
Cinematography: M.I. Littin-Menz
Release Date/Year: January 26, 2019 (Slamdance); May 29, 2020 (United States)
Distributed by Amazon Studios

Where to watch The Vast of Night (2019)