Image Credit: A24 Films

Trey Edward Shults is a name you may want to remember in the near future. He is a writer and director that aspires with big ambition, and while his new thriller exercise in human connection, “It Come At Night” might not elevate to those ambitions, it’s a step in the right direction.

Set in the aftermath of an unknown plague, “Night” follows a family shacked up inside their home in the woods. Joel Edgerton is the paranoid father who sets the rules that everyone will abide by, Carmen Ejogo plays his wife, whom, with their son, Travis (Kelvin Harrison Jr from “The Birth of a Nation”) go about their daily lives with strict routine.

All of that becomes compromised once the family hears a trespasser inside their home. His name is Will (Christopher Abbott) and the next question is, can he be trusted? Is he sick? And is he alone? All of these are formulaic plot mechanics that Shults likes to play with. Who, through his writing, tries to show us the evolution of a dystopian society where generosity can either make or break you. As I said, this movie is a test of human boundaries, and asking how far you would go to protect the ones you love. The sharp dialogue presents a movie worth watching, but I kind of hoped that Shults film would amount to more in the end. Still, he allows us to see the scenes bubble and boil to the point of no return, but those big ideas hardly amount to much. Which leaves a good chunk of the film open to interpretation than I feel most audience members will like.

“It Comes At Night” is not your typical suspense flick, despite having all the key elements. It’s the kind of mainstream indie that forces you to have a conversation after. This may not be the best movie of the summer, but it just might be the most talked about. B