After Midnight
The nights are long for Hank, alone in the old house he shared with his girlfriend Abby for ten years only to wake up one morning to find she was gone with no more explanation than a note pinned to the kitchen cabinets. Since then he has been sleeping on the couch by the front door, a shotgun by his side, fearful of the thing which lurks outside after midnight.
Abby’s brother Shane dismisses Hank’s concerns, saying the scratches on the door are caused by a black bear, and refuses to be drawn on the whereabouts of his sister or if he has heard from her; as a police officer in a small town, he is accustomed to keeping silent where appropriate, but Hank’s behaviour is causing concern.
Hank’s best friend Wade spinning trash television conspiracy theories isn’t helping the situation, nor is his constant drinking, but in his dreams is the only time he can be with Abby, reliving memories of long days when they used to laugh together before Hank became so serious, before the thing outside the door began to torment him as though it were the embodiment of his fears.
Co-directed by Jeremy Gardner and Christian Stella, After Midnight is their most elaborate production, for the first time enjoying the benefits of a crew, but it is still very much their collaboration, shot by Stella, edited by the pair and with The Battery’s Gardner starring in his own script as Hank, a man whose ambition goes little beyond beer and hunting, conveniently meaning he is able to deploy bear traps for his nocturnal visitor.
Despite the presence of Heroes Reborn‘s Henry Zebrowski as Wade and The Endless‘ Justin Benson as Shane, After Midnight is built around Beyond the Gates‘ Brea Grant even though Abby is only seen in endless flashbacks, recalled by Hank as a paragon of loveliness bathed in eternal sunshine than as a genuine person, while Hank with his few friends talks much but says little, inconsequential chatter which fails to engage or make him an interesting or sympathetic person.
The strong atmosphere of the scenes within the darkened house at odds with the stifled emotion of the dramatic scenes, the shortcomings of the characters and dialogue magnified by the decision to shoot them in single take, the two parts of the film remain awkward bedfellows which are never satisfactorily reconciled by a finale which astonishingly attempts resolution through the medium of bad karaoke.
After Midnight is available on Blu-ray from Arrow Films from Monday 8th June
