The Vast Of Night: A Superb, Slow-Burning Sci-Fi Mystery
The Vast Of Night marks the feature film debut of writer/director Andrew Patterson, who proves to be another new filmmaker to keep your eye on. With astounding skill, Patterson finds a fresh angle to a familiar story about something otherworldly in the sky, and he fills its journey full of palpable wonder that will leave you feeling awestruck.
At the dawn of the space-race, two radio-obsessed teens discover a strange frequency over the airwaves in what becomes the most important night of their lives and in the history of their small town.
The Vast of Night is a marvelous debut from director Andrew Patterson (who also co-wrote the screenplay under the pseudonym James Montague — in addition to serving as producer and editor) that completely conjures up the feeling of a bygone era. The film transports viewers to the 1950s, to a small town in New Mexico where a strange event envelops the curiosity of two of the town’s bright young residents. The period aspects are stunning and understated; they are cleverly wound into the film’s narrative and directly contribute to its rich atmosphere, which is masterfully sustained by Patterson and his team for the film’s entirety. It’s an absolute slow burn, full of sequences of characters walking and talking, but its compelling central mystery and palpably eerie atmosphere churn this quiet little indie into an exhilarating experience full of wonder and awe.
Using the guise of a Twilight Zone-esque TV show, humorously titled “Paradox Theatre,” as a framing device, Patterson and co-writer Craig W. Sanger create an interesting layer of separation between the viewer and its characters. We are forced to become acquainted with them from a distance, as we observe them through several dialogue-heavy long takes that span the film’s first section. Despite the noticeable lack of close-ups in the film’s first act, Patterson still manages to establish a warm, intimate connection between the viewer and the characters, which is a testament to the film’s tremendous writing and the strength of its two central performers. By the time Patterson cuts in close, we’re already very familiar with Everett and Fay, and the close-ups are employed to allow us to bask in their reaction to the film’s otherworldly mystery as it unspools.
The skills on display here are fully formed. Patterson melds the directing styles of Gus Van Sant and Paul Thomas Anderson with the awe-inspiring wonderment of Steven Spielberg to create something truly special. He knows when to hang back and when to draw in close; when to be still or employ movement; when to add style and when to take a naturalistic approach. The film’s many technical feats are made all the more astounding when you consider the film’s meager budget of $700,000, which Patterson financed with the earnings from his work producing commercials and shorts for the Oklahoma City Thunder (amongst others). There is one sequence — one of the few splashes of distinct style in the whole piece — that canvases the entire length of the town in one seemingly unbroken tracking shot, giving the viewer a total understanding of the geography and the distance between Everett, the town’s radio DJ, and Fay, the town’s telephone board operator.
Although the film is extraterrestrial in scope, Patterson keeps things rooted in the intimacy of its characters; it’s about them and their discovery of the mysterious signal that’s interrupting broadcasts and disrupting phone calls. Despite it being a story we’ve essentially all seen before, Patterson gets you invested through the film’s masterful construction and character-driven focus. You want to discover the source of the signal just as much as Fay and Everett, and you become just as giddy with excitement as they do with each new development. If you’re lucky, it will wrap you up so tightly that you just might forget any sense of familiarity altogether. If you surrender yourself fully, you may be enraptured with the kind of awe that only films like Close Encounters Of The Third Kind and 2001: A Space Odyssey are capable of inflicting — which is quite an exceptional thing.
Overall, we think The Vast Of Night is the complete package. A quiet slow burn full of intriguing mystery that explodes in a wondrous crescendo, the film is full of excellent performances, terrific cinematography, immaculate production design, and meticulously calculated direction. It’s one of those rare films that fills you with a sense of wonderment and curiosity about what may — or may not — be lurking up there in the sky, the kind of film that will make you fall in love with cinema all over again. The Vast Of Night is truly the mark of a new visionary, and we eagerly await what Andrew Patterson has in store for us next.
Recommendation: If you’re a fan of period pieces and/or science fiction mysteries, The Vast Of Night should satisfy your hunger and fill your belly with awe.
Rating: 5 strange transmissions outta 5.
What do you think? We want to know. Share your thoughts and feelings in the comments section below, and as always, remember to viddy well!