Gone in the Night

I somewhat invariably hold the opinion that feature-length films should be released in cinemas. With that being said, I have no problem with a movie so poorly conceived going straight to VOD, as I have to imagine the typical viewer would have left the theater feeling as if their time and money had been wasted. The performances range from average to below average, and although the writer's ending was anything but safe, the last act was so outrageously overwrought that I found myself audibly laughing at the surprise "a-ha" moment. All of the suspense and intrigue that had been building up to that point evaporated in an instant. When mystery films are done right, they feel plausible, but occupy a space slightly outside of reality; when they're done wrong, you get a movie like Gone in the Night.

The first hour or so of this was intriguing. Normally I guess these types of mysteries but I was kept guessing. But the twist after the first hour was so over the top that it kind of ruined everything up to that point. The pros of this movie is that it did have a little bit of suspense and good acting of course by Winona and Dermot. The pacing was good and it was never boring. I also think the flashbacks and gradual unveiling of the twist was well done. I just think if they could have just had a better twist that was a little bit more plausible it would have bumped up at least a few stars. It was definitely a letdown. Some of the characters' actions were also unbelievable. When this happens it really just ruins the film for me. This is one of those movies that had promise but was a letdown towards the end.

I like movies that keep you guessing until the very end and make me go WTF I never saw that coming. This is not one of those. Had this one figured out early on yet I kept hoping there would be a twist to prove me wrong. Nope. Come on, Winona Ryder, you can do better than this! Not much else very noteworthy to say about this movie but they don't like short and sweet reviews here so will keep typing until I meet the minimum character limit and that's not easy to do and it reminds me of trying to write a one page essay for school by using lots of filler words so let's just say I was very very disappointed.

Gone in the Night is a mildly intriguing movie with an interesting story. It's helped by non-linear story-telling. I didn't hate watching it. It's not a terrible choice if you really have nothing else to watch.

Why didn't I like it more? I don't really know. I just wasn't that engaged. I could tell it was more of a streaming-level movie. I looked up that it had a limited theatrical release, but it's not theater-worthy in my eyes.

I also found the story to be mostly predictable. Maybe I watch too many movies. I think others will enjoy this much more if they don't see everything coming. But you're probably better off rewatching a great movie instead. (1 viewing, 4/8/2023)

'Gone in the Night' is one of those films that I know is riddled with problems, but I don't care - I loved almost every minute of it. The cast was just strong enough that I decided I needed to see it, based on the IMDb rating I could easily have skipped over this one otherwise. What I got was everything I love in a mystery/thriller film.

If you're in a dusty mood or this isn't your favourite genre you could easily find a lot to hate about the film. Nobody is going to take that away from you. The plot has some holes, logic goes out the window at certain points and the flower shop negotiation scene was one of the worst things I've ever seen put to screen. Even I'll happily bag that. How that made it into the final cut I'll never know.

However, if you're in a great mood or this is just the type of movie you absolutely love, then I would suggest you're going to have a great time. The cast has some fun names in it and they give it their all. The plot, for all its flaws, is never boring and has a lot of fun and dark twists along the way. The film is also edited in a very clever way so that the reveals come later in the story. I had a blast with this film and have no shame in giving it a perhaps generous 8/10.

NOTE: The barrel gave me 'Megan is Missing' PTSD.