Movie Review: After Midnight

After Midnight *** ½ / *****

Directed by: Jeremy Gardner & Christian Stella.

Written by: Jeremy Gardner.

Starring: Jeremy Gardner (Hank), Brea Grant (Abby), Henry Zebrowski (Wade), Justin Benson (Shane), Ashley Song (Jess), Nicola Masciotra (Pam), Taylor Zaudtke (Jane), Keith Arbuthnot (Monster).

 

Hank and Abby have been together for a decade – living somewhere in rural Florida where they run a bar together, and rambling around a big, dilapidated house that Hank always says he will fix up, and never does. They aren’t married, they don’t have kids – and Hank seems okay with that. He has his bar, his booze, his friends, his hunting and his girl – what else could he want. But early in After Midnight, Abby leaves – there’s a note that says she needs to get away for a while, but that she loves him. She hasn’t answered her phone since. And every night, after midnight, something comes to Hank’s door – scratching and clawing, and trying to get in. Of course, no one believes him.

 

After Midnight could probably best be described then as an indie version of one of those Judd Apatow movies where the slacker finally realizes he needs to grow up, but stripped of the comedy, and adding in some horror elements – as it really does seem like something wants in that house. As time passes – days become weeks, with no Abby, Hank’s grip on his sanity starts to slip even more – no one quite believes he has seen what he says he’s seen, although there’s something. Maybe a bear, or a panther – never mind that no one has really seen one of those around. The film alternates between flashes of Hank and Abby during happier times – although it slowly becomes clear that Hank is oblivious to Abby’s growing restlessness – and scenes in the present, of Hank either dealing with this monster, or telling people about it, and having them not believing it.

 

When I describe it that way, it doesn’t really sound like After Midnight should work very well – and yet it does. A large part of that goes to writer/co-director/star Gardner’s performance as Hank. It isn’t a flashy performance, and he never tries to do too much – but he’s excellent as this man who is clearly hurt by Abby’s abandonment, but doesn’t really know how to process it, and doesn’t want his friends know he’s hurting at all. It’s not really a portrait of toxic masculinity – one of the more impressive scenes is between Hank and Abby when she returns – and he listens to her, while still being hurt. It’s a portrait of a man who doesn’t want anything to change – but seemingly has everything the way he wants it, and so he doesn’t rock the boat. But that leads to stagnation.

 

Horror fans will likely be disappointed here – it’s not really a horror film, with the monster being a metaphor, which isn’t anything new (hell, is The Badadook one giant metaphor) – but it’s clear that the filmmakers aren’t really interested in it at all. So for most of its runtime, After Midnight is a pretty good film, well-acted, written and directed, if somewhat forgettable – but it has a scene at the end that while incredibly cheesy, I absolutely loved, so it elevated the whole film for me. An interesting little indie curio to be sure.