The Vast of Night (2019) Is the Sci-Fi Debut That Deserves More Love
Why The Vast of Night is a remarkable micro-budget sci-fi film set in 1950s New Mexico and one of the most impressive directorial debuts in years.
The Vast of Night cost almost nothing to make, was shot in a real small town in Texas, and was directed by a first-timer named Andrew Patterson. Amazon quietly dropped it on Prime Video during the summer of 2020, when everyone was distracted, and most people scrolled right past it. One of the most impressive debut films in recent memory, and it landed with barely a ripple.
Why It Got Overlooked
Timing killed it. The film hit Amazon Prime in June 2020. Theaters were closed, the world was in chaos, and streaming catalogs were so flooded that anything without a massive marketing push sank immediately. Amazon gave it a small theatrical window that barely registered before moving it online.
The film also looks low-budget in its first five minutes, which causes some viewers to bail before the magic kicks in. The opening is intentionally retro, framed as an episode of a fictional Twilight Zone-style TV show. A deliberate stylistic choice that pays off enormously, but it requires patience that quick-scrolling audiences often do not have.
What Makes It Worth Your Time
Set in a 1950s New Mexico town during a high school basketball game, the film follows a teenage switchboard operator and a young radio DJ who intercept a strange audio signal. From that hook, Patterson builds tension with almost no visual effects. Just performance, sound design, and camera movement.
There is a single tracking shot in the middle of the film, from the radio station through the empty streets of the town and into the gymnasium, that is one of the most virtuosic pieces of camera work in any film from the last decade. Spielbergian in ambition, done on a budget that most films spend on catering.
Sierra McCormick and Jake Horowitz are electric as the two leads. Their rapid-fire dialogue feels authentic to the era without being stilted, and the chemistry between them drives the entire film. The script gives them room to breathe, and they fill every scene with energy and genuine curiosity.
The sound design deserves its own paragraph. The mysterious audio signal is unsettling, and Patterson uses silence and ambient noise as carefully as most directors use a full score. The film feels tense without resorting to jump scares or cheap tricks.
Who Will Love This
If you love Close Encounters, The Twilight Zone, or Arrival, this is your kind of film. Anyone who appreciates filmmaking craft on a tiny budget will find plenty to admire. Atmosphere over spectacle, imagination over CGI.
People who need constant visual stimulation will have a harder time. The Vast of Night is a dialogue-and-atmosphere film that trusts your imagination to fill in the gaps. If that sounds like a compliment, it is.
The Popcorn Verdict
Something nostalgic. Classic butter popcorn, the kind you would have eaten at a 1950s drive-in. This film channels that era so well that the snack should match the mood. Keep the lights off and the volume up. The sound is half the experience.
Looking for more from this era? Browse our best movies of the 2010s.