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6.6/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 6.6/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. This Is the Night remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you like old-school, slightly desperate comedies where everyone is shouting or hiding under furniture, you’ll probably have a decent time. If you get annoyed by people making obviously bad decisions for eighty minutes straight, skip it. It’s light, it’s flimsy, and it feels like a stage play that refused to be edited down.
Cary Grant is in this, which is usually the main reason people click play. He’s charming, obviously, but he’s not quite the polished star he becomes later. He feels a bit more scrappy here, like he’s still figuring out exactly how much charisma is enough to get away with murder—or in this case, adultery.
The whole premise of the husband coming home early from the Summer Olympics is so thin it’s almost transparent. It’s just an excuse to get people running around hotel rooms. There’s a specific scene involving a misplaced suitcase that goes on forever. I think I checked my phone twice while they were still trying to explain where the key went.
The dialogue moves fast, sometimes too fast. You can tell they were trying to capture that sharp, snappy energy that was big in the 30s, but it lacks the rhythm of something truly great. It’s a bit like watching a frantic dance where someone keeps tripping over their own feet. 😅
The sets are oddly sterile, too. It feels like everyone is performing in a vacuum. It’s nowhere near the depth of something like The Duchess of Doubt, but it’s not trying to be. It’s just a fluff piece.
I couldn't help but think of other random stuff from that era while watching, like the weirdly specific charm of Soyons gais. It’s not that they’re related, but there’s a certain *desperation to entertain* that they both share. You can almost feel the director sweating behind the camera, praying the audience stays awake.
One weird detail: the background extras in the hotel lobby scenes look like they have absolutely nowhere to be. They just sort of drift around, nodding at nothing. It’s distracting if you look too closely. I kept wanting to ask them what they were actually supposed to be doing.
Ultimately—wait, I promised not to use that word. Let's just say it wraps up exactly how you think it will. No surprises. No grand revelations. Just a lot of people laughing a bit too loud at the end to signal that everything is fine now.
It’s not a masterpiece. It’s not even a particularly good movie. But for a rainy afternoon? It’s fine. Just don't expect it to change your life.
IMDb 6.4
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