It’s not many movies that begin feeling like some kind of goofy fun romantic comedy and transforms in to a war concerning vampires. Patrick Rea is up for the challenge of delivering on a movie with a firm tongue in cheek that’s mostly viewed through the lens of a modern video camera. I’m not too sure how vampires appear on screen but that’s for the artist to decide on terms when it comes to on screen vampires. “The Night Is Young” is a pretty good mixing of genres and sub-genres, centering itself on a woman who is on the hunt for a new girlfriend.
After her last disastrous relationship, she and her brother decide to stage a series of dating vlogs, where she can build a brand while finding a new love. Working to the detriment of the film’s pacing though is the lack of emphasis on Nora and her brother as well as their everyday interplay. I’d loved a deeper explanation on why getting Nora a girlfriend is one of his missions. There was never a real sense of emotional stakes between the pair. That said, “The Night is Young” is a lot of fun mainly because Patrick Rea (and writer/star Sarah McGuire) gets to point, propping up the circumstances well and then diving in to this absolutely chaotic situation.
Rea is able to change tone well opting in the second half for a deathly serious direction involving a vampire war, and blood shed, and lesbian lovers. I found the whole love triangle a tad derivative at times, not to mention the chaos made it tough to follow who was dying and who’d survived. There were two occasions I’d assumed the brother had been killed. Nevertheless, Patrick Rea constructs a well packed and well written vampire flick. I wouldn’t mind seeing more of Nora and Emilia down the road.
This year Popcorn Frights is held virtually and in person from August 8th through August 18th at Savor Cinema Fort Lauderdale, Florida.