Fear the Night, 2023.
Written and Directed by Neil LaBute.
Starring Maggie Q, Kat Foster, James Carpinello, Gia Crovatin, Travis Hammer, Ito Aghayere, Highdee Kuan, Kirstin Leigh, Laith Wallschleger, KeiLyn Durrel Jones, Treisa Gary, Roshni Shukla, and William Roth.
SYNOPSIS:
Follows Iraqi war veteran Tes, as she prepares to strike back after a group of home invaders attack during her sister’s bachelorette party, and she discovers that they are hellbent on not leaving any witnesses behind.
There is far too much setup, backstory, and mystery in writer/director Neil LaBute’s Fear the Night, which is nothing but a generic home invasion flick seemingly sending the eyebrow-raising message that absurd paranoia contains merit. To clarify, yes, women rightfully do live in fear out in public practically every day in their lives, but this is an overblown, misguided version of that truth. There is also a somewhat toxic approach to the idea that the average woman needs more survivalist instincts and weapon training.
Several women attending a bachelorette party in an isolated home are murdered here by invaders searching for cash and drugs, except the lesson seems to be that a former Army woman such as protagonist Tess (Maggie Q) freaking out and living in fear is how one stays alive. If you don’t spend every waking moment of your life preparing for these situations, you’re not a victim, and you deserve it. Again, that’s what the movie seems to say, not me.
The muddled point of Fear the Night would also be forgivable if watching these women fighting for survival had some tension or creativity. Instead, a good portion of it is spent watching these women formulate a plan with bland dialogue. It’s a plan that is also boring in execution, which is a matter not helped by the invaders, often quickly dispatching them with crossbows with little weight or impact to the sequence.
Perhaps the only source of intrigue here is meant to be between Tess and her sister Beth (Kat Foster), constantly bickering about the past and how the former’s negative energy and penchant for arguing with strangers brings down the mood for their younger sister’s bachelorette party (a different tone of irritating for roughly 30 minutes that does nothing to make viewers care about these characters). Not only does much of this feel empty and pointless, but it’s also unclear and poorly fleshed out. It’s a half-baked way to attempt to provide depth to these stale characters. The villains themselves make no impression, often shouting and demanding the location of cash even though it’s abundantly clear they are not talking to the drug dealers who have been using the empty home for their illegal enterprise.
One standout moment occurs when the procedures get rather trashy and dark, with one of the invaders threatening to sexually assault one of the women. Noelle (Ito Aghayere) fearlessly takes charge and control of the situation, baiting the henchman into his desires before she and Tess violently take the men down. It’s the only inspired piece of action and bloodshed here. This is all followed up by an epilogue depicting a sexist Sheriff refusing to believe that Tess, even with her Army credentials, could fight back. It’s a worthwhile sentiment considering men like this exist but feels shoved into what is already an unwieldy movie.
Fear the Night is a chore with a misplaced concept of feminism, but the larger offense is not giving an action star like Maggie Q anything memorable to work with. There’s a lot to fear about this movie, and not necessarily much within it.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
Originally published September 6, 2023. Updated September 28, 2023.
