Question, what is it that comes at night?

If you're thinking of catching the film "It Comes at Night," you might want to read my review so you'll know what to expect. I wrote it for Spokane Public Radio:

By now, we’re all familiar with the various settings of a post-apocalyptic world. Some disease or disaster, either naturally occurring or the product of science gone awry, causes widespread death – often causing the undead to rise up and stalk the still living. In most cases this means zombies.

Writer-director Trey Edward Shults uses a version of this familiar trope as the backdrop to his film titled “It Comes at Night,” though what Shults offers up is a twist on the standard dystopian study. It’s far more an exploration of what people are capable of doing when they suspect their lives are at stake.

Joel Edgerton and Carmen Ejogo play Paul and Sarah, a couple who, along with their son Travis (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), have holed up in a large, creaky house set in a remote, wooded location. They’ve boarded up most of the windows, leaving just a sole doorway that is always – always – locked at night. They go out only during the day, and they always wear gas masks, hoping against hope that they can protect themselves against whatever is killing the world.

And the killing is real. This we know from the very first scene, which has Paul and Travis carrying Travis’ grandfather – who is obviously seriously ill – out to the woods where Paul burns his body … though not before putting a bullet through the old man’s brain.

All this has a disturbing effect on Travis, a teenager who is just coming into maturity, physically and emotionally. We see the effects through his dreams, which are as dark as the Bruegel painting on his bedroom wall or the sketches he draws of stark stick figures.

So imagine his discomfort when, late one night, someone comes knocking at the locked door. It turns out not to be a monster, but just a man – Will (played by Christopher Abbott) who says he is just looking for a safe place to stash his own wife and young son. And after a few safety precautions, which include tying Will to a tree for a day or so, Paul decides that it might be a good idea to invite the newcomers to join their family unit.

This turns out to be a good idea, at least at first, as the new energy makes everyone think that life is returning almost to normal. The key word there, though, is “almost” because in a dystopian world a sense of mistrust is never completely erased. And when strange things occur – like a simple confused use of words, or more important a mysteriously unlocked door – paranoia and fear return on steroids.

Much is what Shults does is admirable, from his refusal to offer only the barest of exposition to his camera-work, in which he haunts the house’s hallways, making it feel near-claustrophobic. What’s lacking is a larger sense of purpose, especially as Travis’ nightmares and budding sexual needs cloud Shults’ intentions even more.

“It Comes at Night” announces the presence of a young, new filmmaker with blazing talent for visuals (his first film, "Krisha" was released in 2015). Next time, though, he needs to hire a better story editor, one who can recognize an effective ending.