'The Vast of Night' is an interesting low budget project which possesses style and atmosphere, but doesn't quite deliver its full potential. The opening sequence depicts a teenage switchboard operator and her radio DJ mentor strolling to their night-shift jobs in the small New Mexico town of Cuyaga. The citizenry are preparing for a high school basketball game, and this scenario allows the film-makers to demonstrate their flair and talent, even though this introductory passage is needlessly prolonged by inconsequential exchanges with random individuals. The story finally gets underway around the 25 minute mark when the switchboard operator hears eerie sounds over her equipment, receives a confused emergency call about a disturbing incident out on the highway, and seeks the DJ's advice. Having created an ominous atmosphere with nods at Roswell's UFO folklore and paranoia over government cover-ups, the pair follow clues to a momentous discovery.
The narrative arc has similarities to Spielberg's 'Close Encounters', while the mood owes more to 1950s Cold War era Sci-Fi movies and Rod Serling's Twilight Zone TV series. The film's chief weakness is an anti-climactic conclusion, but the vitality of the acting, direction and cinematography make up for this shortcoming, without ever pushing the project into the territory of unforgettable drama.
The narrative arc has similarities to Spielberg's 'Close Encounters', while the mood owes more to 1950s Cold War era Sci-Fi movies and Rod Serling's Twilight Zone TV series. The film's chief weakness is an anti-climactic conclusion, but the vitality of the acting, direction and cinematography make up for this shortcoming, without ever pushing the project into the territory of unforgettable drama.