capsule review; extremely mild spoiler for The Vast Of Night
"Watched" The Vast Of Night in the background while finishing up work tonight. I think it's one of those films that's earned being viewed with my full attention, so I can actually *think* about how all the pieces fit together.
Good stuff. Basically, imagine a paranoid 1950s atomic sci-fi story redone with 2020 moral values and cinematic realism. There's a definitely theme of sociocultural haves and have-nots that I'm going to have to tease out in more detail next thru.
Very mild spoiler coming:
Spent the whole film waiting for a cheap screenwriting trick (a la the tacky martial arts combat that ended so much of the "thoughtful" sci-fi of the 1990s) that never actually happened. Just solid, spooky character-driven small town sci-fi all the way through. Highly recommended.