The Vast of Night has a beautiful buildup to a lackluster finale.
I will always have a soft spot for indie films. A lower budget, smaller crew, less resources — these are all limitations that any filmmaker is familiar with, and even in the mystical land of Hollywood, there can always be a bigger budget. Unfortunately, films like The Vast of Night could really use a bit of that Nolan money thrown their way. With only one million dollars to work with, director Andrew Patterson’s debut is an impressive sci-fi nostalgia trip, and I look forward to his future releases. This is a film made with love for the craft and respect to its audience.
However, I cannot help but feel like the script was penned with budget limitations in mind. The script is punchy and tight, with interesting characters and a fascinating enough plot, but it seems to start and stop, gaining momentum only to pause the moment things get interesting. Once the film cuts to black, it feels as though the story is just beginning. This is made more shameful by the fact that I wanted to see more of these characters, I wanted to see where this all was going to go, and I cannot help but feel like changes were made to accommodate a limited budget.
The Vast of Night is a 50’s period piece recently released under the Amazon Prime banner. It tells the story of charming radio DJ and local celebrity Everett Sloan (Jake Horowits) and young switchboard operator Fay Crocker (Sierra McCormick) on the night of a local high school basketball game. Everett assists in setting up the school’s audio system to record the game, then leaves with Fay. The two jabber away about their lives, building the world as they speed-walk their way to their respective jobs. Before long, Fay hears a strange signal over the switchboard and, after asking her coworkers about it, calls Everett to solve the issue. Everett decides to play the signal for his listeners–breaking the rules–to see if anyone can identify it. What follows is an arc about government cover-ups, war, and aliens.
This all sounds very exciting, but it should be noted that a majority of this film is dialogue. You are hearing these stories regaled, not witnessing them in real time. This could be a pitfall in a lot of films, falling so deep into exposition that it slowly loses the interest of the audience. The Vast of Night dodges these traps with grace.
Do not get it twisted, though — there is plenty of exposition here.
One male caller tells Everett detailed stories of his history in the Army, where he heard this same sound after finding an artifact, and the cancer he believes it gave him. There’s a woman who believes the sound is caused by aliens and is convinced the sound beckoned her son into space. There are no flashback sequences, only verbal retellings. I imagine this is due to Patterson’s measly million dollar budget. Therefore, exposition becomes necessary, and given the context of the film — most of it taking place over the radio — all of this works better than it would otherwise. Furthermore, Everett and Fay are charming enough to make every bit of their punchy, southern-drawl filled exchanges entertaining. They carry this flick through the duller moments, with Horowitz and McCormick bringing a nice sense of verisimilitude to a film that is otherwise a b-scifi romp.
With a plot that relies so heavily on dialogue, Patterson’s decision to distance his characters from one another via the radio/switchboard is quite clever. Movies often assume their audience won’t understand a situation, and their instinct is to have a character just tell us what is happening. This is not how people communicate face to face, and it often fails. It is, however, how people communicate over the phone. They are forced to explain what the other cannot see. It is a great trick to make us forget how verbose this script is, and I ate it up even when I knew such trickery was afoot.
When people call in to the radio, this movie gets particularly bold. When a caller calls in to describe his experience in the army, rather than cut to a flashback, the screen goes black. This can easily be shrugged off as lazy, but considering the fact that we are watching a 50’s period piece and listening to the radio, it is actually quite brilliant. We are forced to experience these portions just as a listener would: with no screen. Add to this a Twilight Zone style framing device and suddenly The Vast of Night seems remarkably innovative. It tries new things, and regardless of the quality of the final product (still damn good), most of them work.
However, this is a slow burn, even at a short 91 minute runtime. Most scenes are done in absurdly long one-take fashion, making the feat more impressive but less interesting here and there. A few more cuts could have easily spiced up a few duller moments, but I’m not sure it would have evoked the same sense of nostalgia and slow intrigue. That said, The Vast of Night will likely leave many viewers waiting for something to happen, and although it occasionally has payoffs, the end of the film brings little closure and really only confirms what you thought was going to happen all along. It has a bit of a non-ending and cuts to black on what could have been the start of the third act. However, without giving too much away, that third act would have required a much larger budget to pull off. It seems to me that a third act must be kicking around somewhere, even if only in Patterson’s mind, that will never see the light of day because of dollars and cents.
Subjective 3/5
A warm, nostalgic trip to the 50’s, The Vast of Night kept my attention despite its word count. I know I will be keeping my eyes peeled for Patterson’s next piece.
Objective 4/5
This movie was made on a shoestring, and still got away with some pretty impressive moments. It’s got heart, despite being packed with all the campy goodness you would expect from such a story. It might not be for everyone, but this cast and crew deserves credit. Lots of it.
Who should tune in?
Filmmakers; B movie fans; Nerds
This one is for the people behind the craft. It’s got some interesting locations and lighting setups, innovative techniques, and one low-ground shot that continues to baffle me. This movie made me want to go shoot.
One final note: for those who enjoy this little flick, I recommend you take a look at Cosmos. It is a similarly low budget sci-fi, also available on Amazon Prime.
A version of this story originally appeared on CreatorCoffeeShop.com
