Fear The Night (2023) – Movie Review and Summary

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General Information

Director(s)	Neil Labute
Screenplay By	Neil Labute
Based On	N/A
Date Released (Video On Demand)	July 21, 2023
Genre(s)	Action, Crime
Film Length	1 Hour 31 Minutes
Content Rating	Not Rated
Noted Characters and Cast
Tess	Maggie Q

What Is “Fear The Night” Rated And Why?

“Fear The Night” is Not Rated But Contains:

• Dialog: Cursing throughout
• Violence: Brutal depictions of murder
• Sexual Content: Depiction of candy and food that looks like genitals and Threats of rape
• Miscellaneous: Drinking

Film Summary

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Tess, a war veteran trying to maintain her sobriety, is invited to her sister’s bachelorette party with a slew of people she doesn’t like at all. In many ways, the feeling seems mutual, as they find Tess to be a bit of a downer. However, her experience at war might save them all after some locals make it seem the place they are holding the bachelorette party has a lot of money in it, and they know where it is.

Character Descriptions

Please Note: This character guide is not an exhaustive list of every cast member, and character descriptions may contain what can be considered spoilers.

Tess

Tess is an Iraq war veteran who has been sober for around half a year and is known amongst her sister’s friends to be a bit of a buzz kill.

• The actor is also known for their role in “The Protégé,” their role in “The Argument,” and their role in “Fantasy Island (2020).”

Review

Our Rating: Mixed (Divisive)

Who Is This For?

Those who like watching people randomly get killed, especially annoying characters.

Highlights

Maggie Q Delivers What Is Expected

Maggie Q is an underutilized action star who delivers what is expected. Her character has a limited emotional range, but a soldier’s training, which allows her to survive and take out multiple men within one night. Thus she gives you a badass woman, taking on some misogynistic men and delivering you a generic but satisfying hero.

On The Fence

It Pushes You To Care More About Who Dies Than Lives

“Fear The Night” isn’t the kind of movie that has much, if any real character development. I wouldn’t even say it gets you strongly invested in who lives, but it does, to a point, get you giddy about who may die. Mainly since most of the characters do or say something against Tess that makes it so you hope they get picked off. Be it one of her sister’s friends pushing her to drink, another one throwing up her military experience when things aren’t going right, and then the absolute villains? The misogynistic things they say and very creepy intentions they have for the women who can’t defend themselves? It makes you want to see them get hurt.

But, in movies like this, I feel like it shouldn’t solely be the most recognizable actor you care about. You should care about who survives beyond them, but “Fear The Night” makes no effort to do so. All the people who say things about or against Tess, outside of maybe one, don’t say or do anything to redeem themselves or stand out. Thus putting the weight of the entire movie on Maggie Q., which, for better or worse, leaves this film succeeding in its main goal but barely going beyond expectations.

The Attempt At Developing Relationships Is Notable But Wasted

At one point, there seemed to be a desire to dive into Tess’ issues with her sister or her sister’s friends. It gets cut short as they get attacked, and I don’t know if that is a good or bad thing. I don’t know Maggie Q for being an emotive actor who can stir up my feelings. So maybe the shift was a good thing? But, at the same time, I feel that with her sister at the center of it all, not getting to see the relationship, which led to Tess putting up with so many mean and negative comments was a lost opportunity.

Heck, maybe one needed to see the people Tess ends up having to protect in a different light.

Recommendations

If you like this movie, we recommend:

1. Breaking In: Features a similar break-in story, but with the lead character not having a military background

Check out our movies page for our latest movie reviews and recommendations.

FAQs

Answers to some questions you may have regarding this movie: