If you’ve seen Caleb Landry Jones there’s no way to forget him. Besides his distinctive appearance he’s been a reliable presence in movies small, like last year’s The Florida Project, and big like Get Out, Three Billboards, and American Made. He’s even done franchise stuff before. Remember when he played Banshee in X-Men: First Class? Six years ago he was a rising star with Antiviral but now he’s just one of the best actors working today, and his next film To The Night looks like another impressive notch on the belt.
The film is written and directed by Peter Brunner, a protégé of the great Michael Haneke (Funny Games) who is weirdly listed as a “dramaturgical consultant” on the film. I don’t even know what that means but it sounds super important! Anyway, the film finds Jones as a man suffering from PTSD after witnessing, as a child, a fire that wiped out everybody he cared for. Now he’s struggling to move beyond the pain and forge a new life. Jones is joined by Eléonore Hendricks, Jana McKinnon, Christos Haas, and Abbey Lee. Here’s the synopsis:
Norman has never come to terms with the fire that, in his childhood, took away all those closest to him. His inner sorrow and feelings of guilt prevent him from starting a new life with his girlfriend and son. Although the fire took everything, it now becomes a path to dealing with his trauma. Gifted director Peter Brunner ramps up the near physical intensity of the viewer’s experience via the thoughtful use of unspoken hints and images, which assail the associative processes of the subconscious rather than the rational mind. Filmed on-location in New York City and starring the captivating Caleb Landry Jones, the story presents one man’s desire for a life unburdened by trauma, but while doing so it offers up a spectacular and brutally intimate study of a wounded individual.
To The Night will have its world premiere at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival.
