The Vast Of Night

It's refreshing to watch a movie that could have easily been cliche-ridden, predictable, and/or a parody of well-worn themes, instead be a unique and enjoyable experience.  At the recommendation of the THC Son we watched The Vast Of Night (2019), the first feature film, and a very-low budget one, by Andrew Patterson. 

Set in the fictional town of Cayuga, New Mexico (from its description meant to be a stand-in for Roswell) in the late 1950s, it takes place in the course of a couple of hours one night while Cayuga is hosting a basketball game in which its high school team is facing the squad from neighboring Hobbs, and most of the town's population is attending.  Mysterious events; sightings of lights in the sky, odd sounds on radio frequencies, begin to be noticed by the few not attending the game, which include our two main characters, teenagers Everett (Jake Horowitz), a fast-talking DJ on the low-wattage local radio station, and Fay (Sierra McCormick), who operates the town's telephone switchboard.

It's how the story is told, rather than the specifics of the plot, which is familiar in its outline to many other sci-fi movies, that makes this movie special.  It's done in a straightforward way; irony need not apply.  The camera work is remarkable in establishing a mood and look, featuring an extraordinary tracking shot that takes us through the entire town.  The young actors do a terrific job, particularly in the extended scene when Fay, alone at the switchboard, begins to understand that something odd is going on.

Highly recommended. The trailer below shows the long tracking shot but gives away none of the plot, unlike most trailers, including the other ones for this film!