Through the Night (2023) Movie Drinking Game
Take a Drink: for every flashback to that night
Take a Drink: for every attempted justification
Do a Shot: for every display of male aggression
By: Henry J. Fromage (Two Beers) –
Many dramas with serious aspirations will attempt to tell a story of crime and regret from all sides and perspectives, but I can honestly say I have never seen one that has done so quite in the manner that Through the Night has.
Through the Night opens in the passenger seat of a car while doing her best to speak in code to the emergency operative she has on the line, so as not to tip off the male driver who is clearly taking her somewhere against her will. What ensues is not what you may guess.
A Toast
This film is very well conceived and acted, branching out from an opening scene that will recall The Guilty (the superior Danish original) until, all of a sudden, the terrifying ride is over.
What plays out from there is successful due to how unique of an approach director Delphine Gerard employs in presenting this kind of story from the perspectives of all involved, even the perpetrator, who is not the kind of character who is ever given interiority or even humanity in this kind of thing.
The conflicting perspectives even aren’t afraid to create doubt where most directors wouldn’t dare, which makes you step right up to the mirror of your own prejudices and presumptions and examine them, as ugly as they might be.
This is knotty, complicated stuff with insight into how we can justify our actions, no matter what they are, and signals a daring new voice on the world cinema scene.
Beer Two
Some of the flashbacks used to fill in gaps and deliver Rashomon-style new perspectives on events we’ve already seen from one side can be a bit disorienting at first- it takes a minute to sort out that a scene is playing out in the past vs the present, especially as the film blurs the lines of character contact between them.
Verdict
Through the Night is a crime film with a fascinating humanist perspective that proves every bit as gripping as its breathless first scenes.
