Fear the Night (2023)

Fear the Night (2023)

A sloppy home invasion thriller that ends up being (unintentionally) funny rather than frightening

6.0

Movie

English

Action, Thriller

2023

NEIL LABUTE

Brenda Meaney, Gia Crovatin, Kat Foster

92 min

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6.0

Renee Cuisia

TLDR

A Maggie Q renaissance is long overdue, but this film sadly is not it.

What it's about

Eight women gather in a remote cabin to celebrate a friend’s bachelorette party, but their fun comes to an abrupt halt when a group of men threatens to invade the house and kill them; it’s up to military veteran Tess (Maggie Q) to hold the fort and brace the girls for a bloody showdown.

The take

Fear the Night has an exciting premise and finds a competent lead in the ever-dependable Maggie Q, who delivers both heart and action in this home invasion thriller. But the film just has too many loose ends to be taken seriously. The attackers’ motivations, when the film finally reveals them, are plain silly and render the entire thing limp. The attempt at gender commentary is equally flimsy, and so is every other bid to be believable. In the wake of a shootout, for instance, you can clearly see the actress breathing peacefully after being supposedly dead. Moments like this make the film more funny than frightening, and much more tiresome than any slasher should be.

What stands out

While it’s not the most elaborately choreographed thriller out there, Fear the Night proves that Q still has the chops to be one of the biggest action stars out there. Not that we need more convincing, but it is notable how overshadowed she’s been in the recent wave of Hollywood comebacks, which has graced actors like Ke Huy Quan and Michelle Yeoh but has yet to give Q her due. It’s coming soon, I’m sure, but Fear the Night won’t be her way in.

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