Review: “Night Always Comes” on Netflix – A Stress-Inducing Thriller

the dire economic straits so many Americans find themselves in—one unexpected expense away from financial ruin, and so on. Lynette seems to be constantly heading off that ruin, working multiple jobs, though other characters murmur about her inability to hold any of them down for very long. Presented with an unlikely opportunity to buy the shabby little house where she lives with her seemingly unemployed mother Doreen (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and her developmentally disabled older brother Kenny (Zack Gottsagen from The Peanut Butter Falcon), she prepares a $25,000 down payment.

Then, instead of meeting her at the bank, her mom blows the money on a new car. Determined to not let this indifference cost her the family home, Lynette embarks upon a desperate mission to raise another 25 large by her last-ditch 9 am deadline. This involves hitting up the rich guy (Randall Park) with whom she still dabbles in sex work; an old friend (Julia Fox) with more rich-guy connections; and a co-worker (Stephan James) who might be able to help offload some stolen goods. Eli Roth also shows up with an eclectic cast.

The movie almost doesn’t seem to buy into its own urgency, which strands Kirby as the only one driving any action. Everyone else is just performing different degrees of unpleasant naysaying. That’s particularly true of Leigh, who isn’t in the movie much but doesn’t need a lot of screentime to come across as completely incoherent. First, she seems pathologically irresponsible and passive-aggressive, rousing herself off the couch only to waste $25,000 with the petulant insistence that it’s her money. Late in the movie, she’s suddenly able to call out Lynette’s faults like she’s a screenwriter explaining the dramatic catharsis we’re supposed to experience.

Lynette gets so much backstory that the movie loses track of her present tense. Director Benjamin Caron is a streaming veteran of late; he has a strong, striking compositional sense that deserves a bigger screen. In Night Always Comes, he repeatedly holds on wider shots of Kirby within her environment, so the viewer gets a strong sense of place and atmosphere before cutting in closer.

After a few got-the-money-no-wait reversals, you may still want Lynette to escape economic and physical danger. Mostly, though, you’re rooting for Kirby to light out for a movie that treats her with the proper respect, fear, awe, whatever—just something that better reflects her distinctive vibe.