It was just in the past week-when this exclusively dropped on Amazon Prime-that I had any knowledge of this motion picture; plenty of my mutuals here on Letterboxd have already seen and (mostly) loved it. As I vehemently dislike or outright hate some of the pictures that are highly praised here (that Suspiria remake is but one example) this was seen with cautious optimism. Just a few days ago was the realization that Sierra McCormick-the star of this-had a role in VFW; that's why I saw both last night despite them otherwise being almost a complete 180 from each other.
The Vast of Night... understated is a term I've seen used and that is rather accurate. The setting is late 1950's New Mexico; a switchboard operator (McCormick) and a cocky radio DJ (Jake Horowitz) team up in a small town where most of the residents are at a high school basketball game; the reason for their cooperation is that they both hear a mysterious signal over the airwaves... I will reveal no more. Now, “this isn't for everyone” is a massive cliché, yet it has to be brought up. As many have noted, this is full of dialogue so it could almost be a radio play. Quite a few will find this “boring” as there is more discussion of things happening than the viewing of said things... a minuscule budget is the reason why. To my surprise there was a framing device, which I am not sure always worked.
All that said, this movie worked for me. The fact that it was an uncomplicated story told in an interesting way, located in a warm environment that seems like a gas to visit... that is a big asset. The first few minutes I wasn't sure, as DJ Everett came across as a jerk and you are suddenly thrusted into that world where a lot of dialogue is dumped onto you. After that, things settle down and Everett is a likable jerk, a hepcat. At least McCormick's Fay is always a delightful innocent young lady. It was a nice relationship between the two... which thankfully does NOT turn romantic.
In addition, there are long takes; I know lengthy scenes filled w/ dialogue aren't for all; at least here, I was always invested in the story so it was never dull. Plus, there's a nice score which usually echoes the time period. The “radio play” aspect was mentioned, but at times the camera moves around quite a bit... in a controlled way, rather than an unwieldy, distracting manner. I'll praise Andrew Patterson for creating such a nostalgic world and the two leads for doing a swell job... the majority of the movie it's just those two on screen. It may be a bright future in the film world for them; those that give this a chance, hopefully you'll think the journey is worthwhile, a rewarding one.
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