The Vast of Night -- A Lot More Night Than Vast

It's arguably exaggerated how many listeners were convinced by Orson Welles' War of the Worlds that an actual alien invasion was happening. Regardless, that radio broadcast remains famous and infamous. It is clearly an influence on the recent film The Vast of Night.

Set in a small New Mexico town in the 1950s, the movie follows two teenagers, disc jockey Everett and telephone switchboard operator Fay, on a night when a mysterious radio signal cuts into local broadcasts. They run all about town in search of answers, interacting with a handful of people as most of the locals watch a local basketball game in blissful ignorance.

The Vast of Night is very much like a radio drama in tone. The performances feel deliberately pitched just a half-notch above "natural," the characters are written with throwback personalities that seem even more dated than the period trappings, and the storytelling is very audio-centric and doesn't depend on visuals to advance the plot. The War of the Worlds inspiration is deliberate, and the movie wants to make damn sure you know it. (The radio station's call letters are WOTW.)

The movie is also heavily inspired by The Twilight Zone, and it shows this too. A framing device of at times showing the action on a tube television with scan lines and Rod Serling-style narration is used to essentially teach the audience how the movie would prefer it be watched. And if this isn't enough conspicuous filmmaking for you, director Andrew Patterson goes one step farther with his camera work: the movie is filled with long, single takes. Some are unbroken showcases for the actors to simply talk, others are elaborately choreographed dances with the camera.

In terms of style, the film is a wonder. But is it any good? That's a much harder question for me to answer. I found it engaging in times, and yet fairly predictable throughout. I was at times pulled into caring about the characters, even as some of the style choices seemed determined to keep me at arm's length. I wasn't wild about the ending, but I did mostly enjoy the journey.

I'm not usually one to go for a "style over substance" kind of movie. But mostly, I went for this one. I don't know if that makes it a really good "style over substance" movie or a really bad one, if you're a viewer usually into that sort of thing. I can only say that I'd grade The Vast of Night a B. Which is probably good enough to put in on my "Best of 2020" movie list -- for a short while, anyway. It's the sort of movie that will surely get bumped once I've seen enough other contenders.