Film Review - Night Always Arrives (2025)

      **Night Always Comes, 2025**

      **Directed by** Benjamin Caron

      **Starring** Vanessa Kirby, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Zack Gottsagen, Stephan James, Julia Fox, Eli Roth, Randall Park, Michael Kelly, J. Claude Deering, Dana Millican, Curtis McGann, Jake McDorman, Jennifer Lanier, Jason Rouse, and Smack Louis.

      **SYNOPSIS:**

      In a bid to secure a future for both herself and her brother, Lynette embarks on a perilous journey, facing her own troubling past during one intense night. Directed by Benjamin Caron and featuring a screenplay by Sarah Conradt that adapts Willy Vlautin’s novel, *Night Always Comes* aims to convey good intentions but comes off as overly simplistic, detracting from the intended gritty realism. The film tackles themes of dehumanization and stigmatization of the poor but spends excessive time reiterating this through the car radio, touching on nearly every major plot development. The storytelling adopts an episodic structure that seems solely focused on pushing the protagonist from one precarious or embarrassing scenario to another. When genuine childhood trauma is finally unveiled, it feels unearned and sensationalized rather than impactful, prioritizing shock value over character depth.

      Lynette (Vanessa Kirby) manages multiple jobs—ranging from restaurant work to sex work—while caring for her older brother Kenny (Zack Gottsagen, delightful in *The Peanut Butter Falcon* but here reduced to merely a burden and a narrative tool) and her self-serving mother (Jennifer Jason Leigh). Scheduled to meet with a realtor to finalize a $25,000 deal to escape their childhood home filled with painful memories, Lynette hopes the new house will enable her to be a more responsible guardian to Kenny. However, her mother impulsively spends the money on a car, insisting she needs to prioritize herself. Lynette, shocked and angry, faces a grueling night (for both her and the sluggish film), abandoning her low-paying, legitimate job in pursuit of the same amount of cash, given one last opportunity to gather it before morning.

      One of the more compelling side plots involves her encounters with friend Gloria (Julia Fox, in a minor role), an escort enjoying a lavish lifestyle thanks to a sugar daddy. Worryingly, she adopts a “got mine” mentality, showing no willingness to help Lynette despite her financial struggles. This dynamic hints at a larger exploration of how society pits the poor against one another and how those who manage to escape may become so enamored with their new lives that they lose empathy for their friends in need. While Gloria may still care for Lynette, she becomes increasingly self-absorbed, concerned mainly with maintaining her wealthy client’s interest—should that falter, she risks falling back into poverty alongside Lynette.

      Later, Gloria conveniently leaves to meet her client, granting Lynette access to her apartment, which just happens to contain a safe full of cash. In a surprisingly bold choice, Lynette reconnects with Cody (Stephan James), a Black man recently released from prison (who insists he was wrongfully incarcerated), to assist her in breaking into the safe. The film seems to lean on racial stereotypes here, suggesting a troubling narrative logic of placing a Black character in a criminal role.

      Additional characters appear, including Tommy (Michael Kelly), who mentored Lynette during her teenage years. In her desperation, Lynette seeks financial transactions in risky scenarios. Eli Roth briefly appears as a shady party host looking to trade cash for drugs. Lynette also must bring Kenny along, exposing him to danger as she combats unsavory characters and wrestles with her past in a determined attempt to raise the money.

      Ultimately, while *Night Always Comes* is watchable and features a strong performance from Vanessa Kirby, it lacks the urgency expected from a crime thriller set over the span of one night. The narrative feels disconnected (with a subplot involving Lynette’s sex work client, played by Randall Park, feeling dropped) and seems to seek out situations for the protagonist without understanding their significance for character development or social commentary. Although there are stakes involved, the storytelling feels hollow; it feels like a capital M movie lacking authentic substance. The ending, intended to be progressive, instead appears selfish and distasteful, aligning with the character played by Jennifer Jason Leigh. Here’s hoping for better films in the future.

      *Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★*

      Robert Kojder