Patrick Brice has become a lauded cult filmmaker within the horror community thanks to his excellent work directing There’s Someone Inside Your House and the Creep franchise. While Brice hasn’t quite reached the level of fame that Ari Aster or Jordan Peele has attained, his films are characterized by their surprising realism; even if the horror themes that he is unpacking are a bit far-fetched, Brice is able to ground each of his stories in legitimate human emotion, and develop characters that are compelling within their own right. Although it will be interesting to see where his horror career goes, particularly as the Creep saga continues to become more popular, Brice has already proven that he can also make a great dark comedy. The Overnight is a frequently hilarious, yet highly disturbing examination of adult relationships that features terrific performances by Adam Scott and Jason Schwartzman.
What Is ‘The Overnight’ About?
The Overnight is set during one wild evening in which two married couples stay together after their children become friends at a playground. Scott stars as Alex, who has just recently moved to Los Angeles with his wife, Emily (Taylor Schilling), and their son. Schwartzman appears as the charismatic L.A. resident Kurt, who strikes up a conversation with Alex and Emily after he and his wife, Charlotte (Judith Godrèche), recognize that they are not from the city. Although initially, their conversations revolve around getting their respective sons to play together, Alex and Emily realize that Kurt and Charlotte are interested in getting to know them more intimately. Alex, who has always struggled with confidence issues, agrees to Kurt’s request to have an “adult sleepover;” however, he could not have imagined the wild shenanigans that Kurt and Charlotte had in mind, as their supposedly pleasant meetup turns into a much more unusual, darkly comedic evening.
Brice has consistently done an excellent job at making clever tonal shifts that are able to move the audience outside their comfort zone. While the Creep series perfected the transition from mundanity to horror, The Overnight is able to weave in a genuinely compelling mystery without forgetting to have physical gags. It would have been much easier to simply characterize Kurt and Charlotte as inherently idiosyncratic people who don’t have any larger goals, but The Overnight hints that they have invited Alex and Emily to hang out with them to fulfill a greater purpose. The film is also able to make Alex and Emily very relatable, as the viewer is only exposed to the same amount of information that they are. Scott and Schilling are terrific at giving very reactive performances; they can capture the hilarity, confusion, anger, and helplessness that this struggling couple faces as they contend with the various mysteries at play.
‘The Overnight’ Is a Surprisingly Earnest Examination of Marriage
Although it’s a film that gets surprisingly raunchy at times, The Overnight does a great job of examining the struggles of a prolonged marriage. While Alex and Emily still care for each other very deeply, the strain of raising a child means that they have less time to spend with one another, and have begun to lose sight of the passion that made them fall in love with each other in the first place. Attending a wild evening with their peculiar neighbors may be a stressful situation, but it does allow Alex and Emily to remember how united they are when it comes to values. It’s the rare film that acknowledges that marriage can be challenging but argues that staying together is absolutely worth it.
The Overnight features some terrific performances, with Scott doing some of the best work of his entire career. While he had proven that he could be a compelling romantic lead due to his recurring role on Parks and Recreation, Scott showed a maturity to his sensibilities in The Overnight, which offered a preview of the more serious performance he was capable of in Severance. Schwartzman can always be relied upon to play eccentric side characters, but The Overnight allowed him to depict a deeper sense of insecurity and self-hatred. Given how limited the scope of The Overnight was, it’s thanks to the great performances that the film managed to be so consistently engaging.
The Overnight is now streaming on Freevee in the U.S.
Watch on Freevee
Alex, Emily, and their son, RJ, are new to Los Angeles. A chance meeting at the park introduces them to the mysterious Kurt, Charlotte, and Max. A family “playdate” becomes increasingly interesting as the night goes on.
- Release Date
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June 19, 2015
- Runtime
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79 minutes
