If The Night Eats The World isn’t the coolest title for a zombie movie, I don’t know which one is. It sounds even better in original French: La Nuit a Dévoré le Monde. This is an incredibly well-crafted and intelligent post-apocalyptic experience with zombies. We follow one man as he wakes up to a living nightmare in the beautiful city of Paris. Now, I have to say that the opening ten minutes of this movie were quite wobbly. It will feel like you’re about to watch another cheap and boring horror movie which is certainly not the case. Mostly because this movie has excellent cinematography and awesome makeup.
Just get through that damned party and I promise you that you won’t regret it. Everything that happens after is just pure gold, especially for us fans of the genre. This is something that will become apparent the moment our guy walks out of the room and sees that the place is trashed with blood all over the walls. And what’s the first thing he’s going to do? Yes, grab the first thing he can use as a weapon, unlike so many other characters who would throw a fit or do something else stupid.
The intro is not the only misleading thing in this movie. Despite its title, most of the story happens during the day. And despite this being a French movie, everybody speaks English. The Night Eats The World is actually based on a novel of the same name written by Pit Agarmen. This is why the story and our main character feel so authentic and engaging.
I started watching this movie late one night and felt compelled to finish it despite its slower pacing. It just sucks you into the screen and you start empathizing with our main character, Sam. You fully immerse yourself into this new and very engaging reality unfolding before your eyes. And before you know it, a new day has started. Not that I would know that as I keep my shutters firmly closed for maximum cave ambiance.
Sam and Fanny have broken up a while ago. Fanny already found a new boyfriend and she’s throwing this huge party tonight. Which is unfortunate because she also has Sam’s cassette tapes he came to pick up. After a couple of incidents, he falls asleep in one of the back rooms not knowing that the next time he wakes up, the entire world will be different.
One of the best things about The Night Eats The World is its atmosphere. It’s above all realistic but also refreshing considering how saturated the genre is. And while there are dozens of single-location zombie movies, this one feels different. We can all feel for Sam as the things he does and the decisions he makes are rational and logical. To tell you the truth, I would do the same fucking things.
We focus on the psychological aspect of the apocalypse but not in a pretentious way. The situation is pretty fucking dark and desperate and it feels that way too. I mean, this is the apocalypse, after all. This is amplified by Anders Danielsen Lie’s phenomenal performance. Not only he’s Norwegian but also a real doctor. Yes, the man has a practice in Oslo and is also a pretty good musician.
The final thing I want to say about this movie is about zombies themselves. They are mute, not making any sounds as they’re hurling themselves towards you. This adds another level of suspense and makes the whole situation feel much more intense and unnaturally frightening. If there is such a thing. So, do not waste any time and check out The Night Eats the World, it’s a refreshingly realistic and excellent movie.
Director: Dominique Rocher
Writers: Pit Agarmen, Jérémie Guez, Guillaume Lemans
Cast: Anders Danielsen Lie, Golshifteh Farahani, Denis Lavant, Sigrid Bouaziz, David Kammenos
Fun Facts: The family’s dialogue that Sam is listening to in the headset is in Norwegian, a language Anders Danielsen Lie playing Sam understands as he’s also Norwegian.
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IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4266076/
