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Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Alone at Night’ on Hulu, A COVID Horror Film That Packs More Stars Than Scares

Where to stream:.

• Alone at Night (2022)
• paris hilton

Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Teen Torture, Inc.’ on Max, A Docuseries That Aims To Hold The “Troubled Teen Industry” Accountable 

Early aughts icons paris hilton and nicole richie reunite for new reality series 15 years after ‘the simple life’, ‘nyc prep’ finally released from the bravo vaults … but maybe it should have stayed locked up, lizzo says she’s quitting industry due to constant ridicule: “i didn’t sign up for this sh*t”.

Where else can Paris Hilton and Pamela Anderson meet that isn’t just the punchline of a Jay Leno joke? That’d be in Alone at Night , the new quarantine-themed horror film now streaming on Hulu . It’s part COVID chiller, part reality TV parody, and wholly unlike anything else available to stream.

ALONE AT NIGHT : STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: After a bad breakup where her ex-boyfriend kicks her out of their place, Vicky (Ashley Benson) seeks solace in a friend’s remote cabin so she can stop couch-surfing. The catch: it’s during the peak of COVID , and the closest thing she has to company is the people she connects with while camming on a site called “18 And Over.” (Well, that and Trapped Stars , a Paris Hilton-hosted reality show that uses pandemic-era isolation as the premise for a reality show to trap influencers together for a dating show.)

Just when Vicky thinks she’s going to stick to men who will only admire her from behind a screen, she can’t help but strike up a connection with the one man in the vicinity, Max (Jon Foster). He’s nice enough but his obsession with the progression into marriage slowly reveals an incredibly sex-negative attitude toward her profession. As Vicky pulls back, she’s left with a house that seems to have a legacy for pain and death that predates her — and may pull her into its ignominious history.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: It’s secluded slasher schlock for the COVID era — from Halloween to Scream to this year’s similarly pandemic-era flick Sick , the formula ought to feel very familiar.

Performance Worth Watching: While it’s a far cry from her stellar turn in the generation-defining Spring Breakers , Ashley Benson is giving it her all as the camgirl Vicky. She’s got a stake in the film as a producer and an author of the story, so she’s bringing both a realness and a level of investment that’s missing from most others on screen.

Memorable Dialogue: “Honey, I’m home,” says the crowbar killer as he stalks down Vicky in the film’s climactic moments. This appropriation of a familiar catchphrase to try and call on cultural associations rather than coming up with anything original speaks to the kind of movie Alone at Night is.

Sex and Skin: When a film begins with the login page to an OnlyFans-esque site called “18 and Over,” you know it’s prepared to make good on the promise of adult content. The opening credits are over a bevy of scantily clad women posing suggestively, for heaven’s sake! But if you’re expecting outright 18+ content, lower your expectations — Benson’s camgirl Vicky has black tape over her nipples while camming.

Our Take: It takes a long time to figure out what exactly Alone at Night is doing because it moves clunkily between the main plotline with Vicky and the faux reality show. It at least tries to make something out of the COVID-era setting with masking behaviors and other social anxieties, but none of Jimmy Giannopoulos and co-writer Diomedes Raul Bermudez’s get the development they need. It cannot be written off as entirely dumb — for example, a gag slyly recreating the Home Alone pizza delivery scene shows that Giannopoulos is not just doing this movie on autopilot.

But the film should be thinking more about thematic or narrative coherence, not just stringing together elements that helped the film get financing. From cameos like Pamela Anderson as a sheriff to flashy sequences set to G-Eazy beats that just feel like an extended music video, this film is doing a LOT. Very little of it makes sense, especially not its shoehorned focus on gender and sexual politics.

Our Call: SKIP IT. There may be some interesting elements of Alone at Night in isolation, but the connective tissue that makes them into a movie turns them into something borderline incoherent. Wait for the most ludicrous parts to hit TikTok — unlike what Vicky finds while sheltering in the cabin, it’s more fun in isolation anyways.

Marshall Shaffer is a New York-based freelance film journalist. In addition to Decider, his work has also appeared on Slashfilm, Slant, The Playlist and many other outlets. Some day soon, everyone will realize how right he is about Spring Breakers.

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Alone at night.

• Common Sense Says
• Parents Say 0 Reviews
• Kids Say 0 Reviews

Common Sense Media Review

Flashy but empty horror/mystery has sex and drugs.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Alone at Night (formerly titled 18 & Over ) is a horror/mystery movie about a web-cammer (Ashley Benson) who stays in a remote house while a crowbar-wielding killer is on the loose. It tries to be savvy and self-aware (including its own Paris Hilton-led COVID-era reality…

Why Age 16+?

Blood and gore. Characters are killed and stabbed with crowbars. Neck-slicing. S

No explicit nudity, but main character and others are web-cammers and sex-worker

Many uses of "f--k," "Jesus f---ing Christ," "motherf----r," "s--t," "p---y," "t

Two characters choose between psychedelic drugs "DMT" and "salvia," smoke the fo

Any Positive Content?

The main character (Ashley Benson) is a woman, and there are several strong, ind

The only real message here is to be more careful when staying at a remote house

Most of the characters aren't very deep. Main character, Vicky, while likable, d

Violence & Scariness

Blood and gore. Characters are killed and stabbed with crowbars. Neck-slicing. Stabbing in head. Dead deer, crowbar stuck in its head. Man grabs a woman around her throat, choking her. Man swings at woman with baseball bat. Characters stabbed with knife, electrocuted in bathtub, violently grabbed from behind. Fighting, punching. Dead body floating in pool. Other dead bodies. Character bashed over head with blunt objects. Bloody wounds. Trickling blood. Bloody handprint. Woman handcuffed to bed. Arguing. Dialogue describing violent events.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

No explicit nudity, but main character and others are web-cammers and sex-workers, performing sexual fantasies for paying customers online. Couple shown kissing and naked in hot tub; sex implied. Women are dressed in revealing clothing: tape over nipples, etc. Women touch themselves in sensual ways, making pleasurable moans. Woman pretends to seduce man, climbing on top of him and kissing him. Man hires sex worker to come to his apartment; they kiss, she removes coat to reveal lingerie. Frequent sex-related dialogue. Flirting. Kissing.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Many uses of "f--k," "Jesus f---ing Christ," "motherf----r," "s--t," "p---y," "t-ts," "ass," "bitch," "son of a bitch," "goddamn," "damn," "whore," "pissed," "horny." Hip-hop song with uses of the "N" word, "crack," etc. Middle-finger gestures.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Two characters choose between psychedelic drugs "DMT" and "salvia," smoke the former, and go on a "trip" together. Pot-smoking. Character drinks scotch at home. Character says she's "too hung over" to drive. Reality show characters drink together. Whiskey shared at home. Wine with dinner. Character drugged, passes out.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Diverse Representations

The main character (Ashley Benson) is a woman, and there are several strong, independent women in the story, including sex workers and a local sheriff (Pamela Anderson). The sheriff has a Black deputy (Tariq Devega). Latino actor Luis Guzmán appears in a brief but positive role as one of the main character's customers. And the Paris Hilton reality show features a wide variety of people from various cultures, though they're all spoiled and self-obsessed. Several White men come and go from the main character's life, but they're very much secondary to her. Another woman, a sex worker who appears in only one early scene, has vitiligo. (The character is played by real-life model Winnie Harlow, who is a spokesperson for people with that skin condition.)

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Positive Messages

The only real message here is to be more careful when staying at a remote house far away from everything. By weaving the Paris Hilton/"Trap House" reality show into the narrative, the movie seems to be trying to say something either about COVID, the emptiness of fame, or something else, but it's not clear.

Positive Role Models

Most of the characters aren't very deep. Main character, Vicky, while likable, doesn't handle her many troubles with much responsibility or logic.

Parents need to know that Alone at Night (formerly titled 18 & Over ) is a horror/mystery movie about a web-cammer ( Ashley Benson ) who stays in a remote house while a crowbar-wielding killer is on the loose. It tries to be savvy and self-aware (including its own Paris Hilton-led COVID-era reality show) but ultimately it's all flash and surface. It has strong sexual material, including characters touching themselves in sensual ways, moaning, sexy outfits, barely covered nipples, kissing, flirting, sex-related dialogue, and a tame sex scene. Violence is also intense, with crowbar killings, a woman being choked, necks getting sliced, stabbings, an electrocution in a bathtub, dead bodies, and blood/gore. Language includes many uses of "f--k" and "s--t," plus "p---y," "t-ts," "ass," and the "N" word in a hip hop song. Characters smoke the psychedelic drug DMT, and there's pot-smoking, social-drinking, other drugs mentioned, and a character who's hungover. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

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Parent and Kid Reviews

• Parents say

There aren't any parent reviews yet. Be the first to review this title.

What's the Story?

In ALONE AT NIGHT, Vicky ( Ashley Benson ) is a web-cammer who's just been dumped by her boyfriend and has no place to live. It's the early days of COVID, and a friend lets Vicky stay in her remote cabin in Weed, California, where Vicky plans to recuperate and try to earn some money. She also passes the time by watching a new COVID-based reality show hosted by Paris Hilton. Unfortunately, the internet keeps going out, unexpected guests keep dropping by, and one of her clients is starting to become a little too stalker-y. To top things off, a serial killer who favors doing victims in with a crowbar is on the loose.

Is It Any Good?

Made in the self-aware, meta-style of the Scream movies, this slasher/whodunit has some wit and vigor, but in the end it's all flash, not dissimilar from the vapid reality show it purports to parody. Resilient but vulnerable, Benson is very likable as the main character in Alone at Night , and she goes a long way in carrying it. There's also a strong sense of the sadness and deception of the webcam industry, although one custoer of Vicky's (played by Luis Guzman ) is uncharacteristically happy, pleased to simply chat with her, tell her how beautiful she is, and teach her how to dance (he really just wants to re-kindle his relationship with his wife). But when it comes to the thriller stuff, Alone at Night sets itself up as a brutal slasher (albeit one with awful shaky-cam action) and then makes viewers wait as it turns into a half-baked "mystery." Additionally, while the Paris Hilton reality show angle is an obnoxiously effective parody, it ultimately has little to nothing to do with the rest of the movie.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about Alone at Night 's violence . How did it make you feel? Was it exciting? Shocking? What did the movie show or not show to achieve this effect? Why is that important?

How does the movie depict sex workers? What are its attitudes toward real-life sex ? What values are imparted?

Is the movie scary? What's the appeal of horror movies ? Why do people sometimes like to be scared?

How does the movie depict the COVID-19 pandemic? Is it interesting to see it in movies, or would you rather not think about it? Why?

How do the Trap House reality show and the movie itself tie together? What do you think the movie is trying to say?

Movie Details

• In theaters : January 20, 2023
• On DVD or streaming : January 20, 2023
• Cast : Ashley Benson , Luis Guzman , Paris Hilton
• Director : Jimmy Giannopoulos
• Inclusion Information : Female actors, Latino actors
• Studio : Vertical Entertainment
• Genre : Horror
• Run time : 90 minutes
• MPAA rating : NR
• Last updated : May 19, 2023

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

What to watch next.

Scream (2022)

All the Boys Love Mandy Lane

Scary Movies for Kids

Best horror movies.

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Alone at Night Reviews

Like reality TV itself, it felt lazy, vapid, and exploitative.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 10, 2023

Here everyone is watching everyone, whether on screen, online or on the sly in real life, in an ever more paradoxical panopticon that keeps putting viewers in their place as concupiscent consumers of all the tawdry spectacle.

Full Review | Aug 7, 2023

There may be some interesting elements of Alone at Night in isolation, but the connective tissue that makes them into a movie turns them into something borderline incoherent.

Full Review | Jun 6, 2023

Made in the self-aware, meta-style of the 'Scream' movies, this slasher/whodunit has some wit and vigor, but in the end it's all flash, not dissimilar from the vapid reality show it purports to parody.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Feb 8, 2023

Giannopoulos isn’t cutting deep with the screenplay. He's after cheap thrills with formulaic material, which makes for a deflating viewing experience.

Full Review | Original Score: D | Jan 20, 2023

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Where to watch

Alone at night.

Directed by Jimmy Giannopoulos

Never Trust Reality.

Having just been through a tumultuous breakup, cam-girl Vicky retreats to a friend’s remote cabin in the woods to clear her head. But when the power goes out, she discovers something terrifying awaiting her in the dark — a masked killer who’s hellbent on bringing her night to a grisly end.

Ashley Benson Jon Foster Sky Ferreira Jake Weary Duke Nicholson John Robinson Winnie Harlow G-Eazy A$AP Nast Pamela Anderson Luis Guzmán Paris Hilton Lindsey Pelas Tyler Dean Flores Clara McGregor Twan Kuyper Cassius Corrigan Shannon Hamilton Janice Blue Luca Bleu Darnell Beverly Rose

Director Director

Jimmy Giannopoulos

Producers Producers

Ashley Benson Diomedes Raul Bermudez Siena Oberman Cassius Corrigan

Writers Writers

Jimmy Giannopoulos Diomedes Raul Bermudez

Editor Editor

Cinematography cinematography.

Peter Buntaine

Executive Producers Exec. Producers

Jamin O'Brien Terry Dougas

Production Design Production Design

Joshua Petersen

Set Decoration Set Decoration

Cheyenne Ford Brittany Brenner

Visual Effects Visual Effects

Lucas De La Torre Joshua James Johnson Timothy Montoya

Stunts Stunts

Kurt Nelson Kelly Phelan Dalton Rondell Jean Paul Ruggiero Christopher Tardieu

Composers Composers

G-Eazy Goody Grace

Sound Sound

Lily Adams Brett Francois Tapio Liukkonen Ryan A. Sullivan Jake White Matt Yocum

Costume Design Costume Design

Joanna David

Makeup Makeup

Jennifer Buchalla Daniel Coltor

Hairstyling Hairstyling

Sara Tintari

Hercules Film Fund Purpose Films Handle Productions Rhea Films Artemis Pictures

Finland USA

Alternative Titles

18 & Over, Seule dans la nuit

Thriller Horror Mystery

Releases by Date

Theatrical limited, 20 jan 2023, 12 aug 2022, 28 aug 2023, releases by country.

• Digital NFT Release
• Theatrical limited NR

89 mins   More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by haley ★★ 2

"score by g-eazy" yeah, we can tell

Review by aaron ★½ 2

paris hilton and pamela anderson academy award when

Review by Acoucalancha ★ 2

Lame kills, lame thrills, lame characters and it's a covid movie. It has two separate storylines (the cam girl getting stalked by the Crowbar killer and a reality TV show hosted by Paris Hilton). It started with an intriguing mystery and a decent premise but everything that followed was wrong, just wrong. Instead of laying out the possible suspects in a smart way like whodunit thrillers usually do, they choose to repeat the same story every 15 mins by having a new man pop up at Ashley Benson's cabin. Every time she tries to hook up with them, it's extremely redundant and feels like groundhog day. The characters are different everytime we see them, it's like the "actors" can't remember…

Review by B E R T ★★

A mostly awful and boring slasher thriller that even Pammy and Paris couldn’t fully save. Fun to see Pammy plying full butch lesbian vibes though.

Review by joshrowley ★ 4

Review by jessica🐾 ★★ 2

The dog Paris Hilton kept carrying like a clutch purse has more talent than 99% of people in this movie

Review by Joel Hilke ½ 11

That moment when you start a movie and realize you've made a grave error in judgement. Alone at Night (spoiler: she's rarely alone at night) is a terrible, no good rotten stab (hah) at a slasher thriller mystery thing.

This'll be familiar... during Covid lockdown, a woman shelters in a cabin... in the woods. She's a cam-girl so we get random inserted sexy time on laptops and also a Paris Hilton (?!) hosted reality show that's about as dumb as the reality shows its satirizing. Why? Because we have to fill the runtime. Anyhow, there's a Crowbar killer out there and a ton of red herring hot dudes who drop by her house. And Pamela Anderson as the local sheriff,…

Review by Sofa Sinema ★★★½ 1

An offbeat and sexy meta slasher that often captures the hallucinatory paranoia of the Covid era. Yes, it's another quarantine flick that was obviously shot during lockdown. Likely off putting for some, but these flicks should serve as interesting time capsules of an oddly disorienting period already in our collective rear view mirrors. Making a movie under those conditions was bound to lead to some odd and uncertain places.

Ashley Benson ( Spring Breakers , Pretty Little Liars ) is a webcam chick who finds herself at a remote cabin, where she is seldom alone despite what this title says. She seems to have no trouble letting every strange male she meets--from curious repairman to sketchy pizza delivery guys--know that she's home alone.…

Review by Tony the Terror ★★★★

I would have titled this The Hoeification of Hanna Marin , but I suppose I’ll just have to call it that by myself because I’m absolutely placing this into the Pretty Little Liars universe.

Whyyyyy did everyone hate this so much?? I was expecting a complete fucking disaster and I got a high vibes onlyfans neon slasher disasterpiece . Love when that happens. Maybe I’m really high but I had a blast and thought this was great. Now, if you read that and immediately thought “that’s because you’re high, dumbass bitch”  then you’re my people all the way because that’s exactly what I’d do!

HOWEVER, this opens with Paris Hilton herself hosting a shitty reality show and that alone is probably enough to…

Review by Lam ½

sky ferreira this is NOT what i call releasing masochism

Review by thedayofthedot ★★ 2

The one thing worth seeing in this is Ashley Benson in a hockey mask

Review by Zay ★½ 6

Campy slowburn slasher with some mystery thriller elements. Ashley Benson wears lingerie and rubs herself alot. Pamela Anderson plays a cornball sheriff. There's a sterotypical reality show that Ashley Benson's character likes to watch hosted by Paris Hilton that gets wayyy to much screentime. It's also set during covid.

Its slow as shit for a slasher and the killer's identity is hella obvious. There's a twist, one of the corniest damn twists I've ever seen, at least I think that was a twist...It's not a good movie.

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Alone at Night (2023)

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Vicky (Ashley Benson) is a young woman looking for an escape after going through a harrowing break-up. After retreating to a friend’s remote cabin in the woods to clear her head, she continues modeling sexy lingerie for her devoted followers on 18 & Over, an adults-only, live-streaming website. But when the power keeps going out, Vicky discovers something terrifying awaiting her in the dark — a masked killer wielding a crowbar who’s hellbent on bringing her night to a grisly end.

Alone at Night

Not available

Vicky (Ashley Benson) is a young woman looking for an escape after going through a harrowing break-up. After retreating to a friend’s remote cabin in the woods to clear her head, she continues modeling sexy lingerie for her devoted followers on 18 & Over, an adults-only, live-streaming website. But when the power keeps going out, Vicky discovers something terrifying awaiting her in the dark — a masked killer wielding a crowbar who’s hellbent on bringing her night to a grisly end. Alone at Night is led by an ensemble cast including Benson (Pretty Little Liars), Pamela Anderson (Baywatch), Luis Guzmán (Traffic), model Winnie Harlow, musician G-Eazy, rapper A$AP Nast, Paris Hilton, and more.

Alone at Night: Plot, Cast, Release Date, and Everything Else We Know

Alone at Night will release on January 20, 2023.

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Home » Horror News » Alone At Night Review

Alone At Night Review

PLOT : A Cam Girl isolating out in a cabin in the woods, finds herself being stalked by a psychopath.

REVIEW : Like the recently released Sick , Alone At Night is a pandemic slasher. But this takes a considerably different approach, so if you’re worried about crossover, don’t. If anything, the pandemic is more in the background and this is more about an isolated cam girl played by Ashley Benson . At least that’s part of the movie. There’s also a whole storyline with a bunch of Influencers living in a Big Brother-style pad. In some ways, it feels like they didn’t want to commit to a full-blown horror movie.

Like most slashers, there doesn’t need to be a grand story at play, there just needs to be a killer and a final girl. We’ve got Vicky (Benson) staying at an isolated cabin in the woods so the setup is perfect. She’s a Cam Girl who has several clients, and one of them is creepy. So creepy that he murders her boyfriend and starts stalking her in real life. There’s also a really funny client of hers played by Luis Guzman but, like many characters in this, he’s mostly just there to fill time.

The cast here is one of the most eclectic I’ve ever seen in a movie. Ashley Benson, G-Eazy, Paris Hilton, Winnie Harlowe, and Pamela Anderson make up our group of thespians and I think the most shocking aspect is how competent they are. I was expecting some hammy, winking at the camera-style acting, but everyone fully commits. And maybe it’s just my enjoyment of the Hulu show Pam and Tommy , but I got a lot of joy out of Anderson’s performance here. She seemed excited to actually act and not just portray herself on camera for once.

I have to be honest, I still have no idea what the point of the Trap House segments were. They were so silly and didn’t fit with the tone of the rest of the film. I’m not sure if they just felt the Vicky stuff was too dark so they needed to break it up with something lighter or what. Part of me thinks they were just trying to get the film to 90 minutes. I kept waiting for it to come back around in a way that affected the A plot but it didn’t happen. Either way it really doesn’t work and mostly just feel like extremely unnecessary detours. At least it provided a few laughs.

I always enjoy a slasher where the killer is a mystery and we get to slowly figure it out as the film goes on. Unfortunately here, it’s extremely obvious from the onset as to who it is, so there’s no mystery. But even still, it is a twist so I’m not going to spoil it here. I actually really enjoyed the killer’s performance as well. He feels like just the right level of incel and psychopath. I’ll always enjoy a “crazed’ performance and this guy was really fun. And I really enjoyed the usage of a crowbar as the main weapon. It’s not a common slasher weapon, so it gives the movie a little more identity.

Alone at Night feels very 2023 with its use of Cam Girls and commentary on Incels. It’s a bit of a mixed bag and I would have liked it considerably more without the Trap House angle. The story itself has a lot of potential, and the Trap House-meta angle completely ruins it. There’s a pretty interesting slasher here, and Benson gives a great performance in the lead. But the overall package just doesn’t come together in an impactful way.

Alone at Night is ON DEMAND/DIGITAL ON JANUARY 20TH, 2023 .

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About the Author

Tyler Nichols is a horror fanatic who resides in Michigan and is always on the hunt for the next great film. When not scouring the internet for movie news, he is usually off watching something dark, writing nonsensical musings, or playing in some fantastical video game world. While horror takes up most of his time, he still makes time for films of all types, with a certain affinity for the strange and unusual. He’s also an expert on all things Comic Book Cinema. In addition to reviews and interviews here on JoBlo.com, Tyler also helps with JoBlo Horror Originals where he’s constantly trying to convince viewers to give lesser-known horror films a chance.

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Alone At Night - What We Know So Far

It's safe to say that slasher films have been a staple of horror cinema for over nearly 50 years, first rising to prominence in the 1970s when a slew of gory horror flicks began hitting the theaters. Most prominent amongst these is John Carpenter's 1978 classic "Halloween," which ushered in a slew of similar films featuring psychotic killers who are hell-bent on murdering as many people as possible in 90 minutes.

The slashers that followed "Halloween" included prolific horror films like "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," "A Nightmare on Elm Street," and of course "Friday the 13th." The impact that the slasher movement had on horror cinema cannot be overstated, as dozens of slashers continue to populate the theater each year. 2022 alone saw the release of prominent slashers like "Halloween Ends," Mia Goth's "X," the Pete Davidson-led "Bodies Bodies Bodies," and another reboot of the "Scream" franchise.

The majority of these modern slashers adapt the themes and content of their predecessors to the ways of modern society, sometimes to the point where something like an Airbnb can become a focal point of the horror story itself. This trend continues with the upcoming slasher film "Alone at Night," the synopsis of which reads, "Quarantine leads to a night of terror" (via IMDb ). Here's everything we know so far about the getaway-inspired slasher "Alone at Night."

When will Alone at Night be released?

Thankfully, horror aficionados won't have to wait long for "Alone at Night." Its release date is currently set for January 20, 2023, at which time it will premiere both in theaters and on Video-On-Demand services (via Deadline ). Although this imminent release date is certainly good news for any fans of the slasher genre, it's worth noting that the film itself was technically already released — albeit, under some remarkably strange circumstances.

Indeed, "Alone at Night" was actually released for the first time back in August 2022, at which time it was named "18 & Over." Like the film's subject matter, it's clear that this novel release is a product of our times, as "Alone at Night" was released in the form of a $263 NFT, which included exclusive art of characters from the film itself (via Variety ). 10,000 of these NFTs went on sale starting August 5, and anybody who owned one would have two months of access to the "collector's cut" of "Alone at Night." Although it's unclear how many of these NFTs were actually sold, the entire ordeal marks one of the most unique film premieres in recent memory — especially now that the film itself is coming to theaters this upcoming January.

What is the plot of Alone at Night?

Entertainment Weekly indicates that the film will primarily focus on a woman named Vicky (Ashley Benson) who works for the adult streaming website "18 & Over." Following a breakup, Vicky retreats to an isolated cabin in the woods where she continues to provide content for her followers — only to find herself in grave danger once a masked killer shows up on the property.

If that synopsis sounds like your stereotypical slasher, there's a good reason for that, since director Jimmy Giannopoulos is taking inspiration from some of his favorite slashers of the past. "With 'Alone at Night,' I wanted to make the kind of movie I would have snuck into as a teen: slasher, stoner, sexy thriller with killer music," explained Giannopoulos. "Playing on the nostalgia of my favorite B-horror/90's slasher films ... The themes of isolation and obsession are as old as time, but culture always breeds new ways for them to manifest."

It's clear that "Alone at Night" will be a love letter to the slasher genre as a whole.

Who is starring in Alone at Night?

Although the synopsis makes it clear that much and more of "Alone at Night" will focus on Ashley Benson's character Vicky, the film itself features an ensemble cast stacked with some pretty major stars — including several prominent musical artists. Several of the most notable cast members from "Alone at Night" include the prolific Luis Guzmán, who plays a character named JazzyLou; "Baywatch" star Pamela Anderson , who plays a bumbling sheriff who tries to help bring down the killer; and Paris Hilton, who stars as the host of a fictitious show called "Trap Stars" (via IMDb ).

In addition, the film also features rapper A$AP Nast playing the deputy to Anderson's sheriff and marks the feature film debut of fellow rapper G-Eazy, who plays a character named Tom Montana and who is also credited with providing the film's score. Other members of the cast include Sky Ferreira, Jake Neary, Winnie Harlow, John Robinson, Cassius Corrigan, and Tyler Dean Flores.

"Alone at Night" boasts an impressive ensemble cast that can rival even the best indie horror films out there — even if most of these characters are likely to perish before the film is over.

Who is directing Alone at Night?

The upcoming erotic slasher "Alone at Night" will be directed by Jimmy Giannopoulos, who (prior to his work as a director) is perhaps most well known for being one of the founding members of the R&B-electropop duo "LOLAWOLF,"  which he created alongside fellow actor and musician Zoë Kravitz.

Giannopoulos made his feature-length directorial debut back in 2021 with "The Birthday Cake" — a crime thriller that focuses on a young man named Giovanni who is forced to honor his family's tradition of bringing a birthday cake to the house of "Uncle Angelo" (a local crime boss played by Val Kilmer ) once a year. While delivering the said cake, he witnesses a murder that sets his life spiraling out of control, and eventually leads him to uncover the truth about his father's mysterious death (via IMDb ). Despite receiving poor reviews, "The Birthday Cake" is notable for featuring an absurdly star-studded cast, featuring the talents of actors like Lorraine Bracco, Ewan McGregor, Jeremy Allen White, and one of the last performances by the legendary Paul Sorvino prior to his death.

As such, it's safe to say that Giannopoulos has plenty of experience directing some of the world's biggest actors, despite the fact that "Alone at Night" marks just his second time being behind the camera — and one has to hope that experience will translate into a slasher worth remembering.

Is there a trailer for Alone at Night?

Yes, there is a trailer for "Alone at Night," which was posted to YouTube courtesy of Vertical Entertainment US . The trailer for "Alone at Night” begins with a woman being stabbed to death in her home, before cutting to Ashley Benson's Vicky as she enters her friend's cabin — promising to "spend the next week webcamming and making some money."

We then get a brief glimpse of Luis Guzmán's JazzyLou (who turns out to be one of Vicky's subscribers) as well as a scene in which a mysterious voice asks Vicky "how much will it take to make you mine?" The rest of the trailer is rounded out by appearances from Pamela Anderson's goofy sheriff who, along with her partner, explains that a killer used to roam this area, and a variety of shots showing a mysterious masked killer stalking Vicky through the cabin.

In classic slasher form, we also get plenty of quick glimpses of this masked killer stabbing people left and right, intercut with some tongue-in-cheek comments from Paris Hilton on the set of her show. The trailer itself certainly poses a lot of new questions about the story of this film, including who this mysterious client and killer actually is and what Hilton's character has to do with Vicky's dire situation. In any case, the trailer does an excellent job of keeping the audience in suspense without giving too much away, and is certain to attract plenty of horror fans looking for a brand-new slasher.

Alone at Night Movie

Who's Involved:

John Robinson, Ashley Benson, Pamela Anderson, Winnie Harlow, Luis Guzman, Paris Hilton, Sky Ferreira, Jimmy Giannopoulos, A$AP Nast, G-Eazy, Cassius Corrigan

Release Date:

Friday, January 20, 2023 Limited

Plot: What's the story about?

Vicky (Ashley Benson) is a young woman looking for an escape after going through a harrowing break-up. After retreating to a friend’s remote cabin in the woods to clear her head, she continues modeling sexy lingerie for her devoted followers on 18 & Over, an adults-only, live-streaming website. But when the power keeps going out, Vicky discovers something terrifying awaiting her in the dark — a masked killer wielding a crowbar who’s hellbent on bringing her night to a grisly end.

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Poll: Will you see Alone at Night ?

Who stars in Alone at Night : Cast List

Ashley Benson

Pixels, Angry Neighbors  

Pamela Anderson

The Naked Gun, Baywatch  

Luis Guzman

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, Turbo  

Winnie Harlow

Paris Hilton

National Lampoon's Pledge This!, Raising Helen  

John Robinson

Transformers, Lords of Dogtown  

Cassius Corrigan

Sky Ferreira

Elvis & Nixon  

Who's making Alone at Night : Crew List

A look at the Alone at Night behind-the-scenes crew and production team. The film's director Jimmy Giannopoulos last directed The Birthday Cake .

Jimmy Giannopoulos

Screenwriters

Production Companies

Watch alone at night trailers & videos.

Official Trailer

Production: what we know about alone at night , filming timeline.

• 2022 - December : The film was set to Completed  status.

Alone at Night Release Date: When was the film released?

Alone at Night was a Limited release in 2023 on Friday, January 20, 2023 . There were 15 other movies released on the same date, including Missing , Women Talking and Alice, Darling . As a Limited release, Alone at Night will only be shown in select movie theaters across major markets. Please check Fandango and Atom Tickets to see if the film is playing in your area.

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• Thu., Jan. 12, 2023
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The 10 best historical crime movies, ranked, this long-awaited stephen king vampire movie is finally coming to max.

2023 is looking to be another fantastic year for horror movies. The Ashley Benson -led horror-thriller feature, Alone At Night , is an exciting, blood-filled film that is set to hit theaters in January of next year, with a recently released trailer showing Benson attempting to survive a night of terror.

Directed by Jimmy Giannopoulos ( The Birthday Cake ), the forthcoming horror film follows Vicky (Benson) as she tries to get through a breakup, spending her days in a remote cabin due to her ex kicking her out of their old place, with a plan to spend her next few days as a cam girl for an adult live-streaming website to make ends meet. But in her supposedly alone time to clear her head from everything she's gone through, her night turns deadly as a masked killer on the loose is set to make her life a living hell—alone at night, with no one to rely on.

The trailer starts with model Winnie Harlow , seemingly another cam girl, being hunted by a masked killer. It then shifts to Vicky, a fellow cam girl who relies on the internet for her income, all while experiencing a rather inconvenient recurring electricity shortage. American rapper A$AP Nast plays a sheriff alongside Pamela Anderson ( Baywatch ), who tries to track down a masked killer. The trailer suggests that "never trust reality," with a killer wielding a crowbar strangely targeting cam girls in particular.

RELATED: 'Pretty Little Liars' Black-Hooded Baddies: Every A Ranked

Besides Benson, Harlow, A$AP Nast, and Anderson, Alone At Night is jam-packed with an ensemble cast, including Luis Guzmán ( Wednesday ), G-Eazy ( Hustlers ), Paris Hilton ( House of Wax ), John Robinson ( The Amityville Murders ), and Sky Ferreira ( The Green Inferno ), among others. It is written by Giannopoulos and Diomedes Raul Bermudez , with Vertical Entertainment producing.

It's safe to say that 2022 is one of the greatest years for horror, with releases like Smile , Scream , Nope , Bodies Bodies Bodies , and Barbarian —which all received favorable feedback from both viewers and critics. But 2023 is shaping up to be yet another year for horror films to flourish, with multiple upcoming horror films coming our way, including the sixth installment of the Scream franchise, Evil Dead Rise , Infinity Pool , M3GAN , and of course, Alone At Night , boasting a first trailer that promises a terrifying and thrilling cinematic experience.

The upcoming film's director shared in a statement that he wanted to combine everything his teen self wanted for a horror film, including genres like "slasher, stoner, and sexy thriller," complete with a killer musical background. "Playing on the nostalgia of my favorite B-horror/90's slasher films, we truly made a terrifyingly fun film. The themes of isolation and obsession are as old as time, but culture always breeds new ways for them to manifest." So with 90s slasher films as the filmmaker's inspiration, we can all expect Alone At Night to be a nostalgic film, filled with horrifying sequences and a lot of jump scares, perhaps.

Alone At Night is set to hit theaters and on-demand on January 20. You can watch the upcoming horror flick's trailer and read the official synopsis below.

"Vicky (Ashley Benson) is a young woman looking for an escape after going through a harrowing break-up. After retreating to a friend’s remote cabin in the woods to clear her head, she continues modeling sexy lingerie for her devoted followers on 18 & Over, an adults-only, live-streaming website. But when the power keeps going out, Vicky discovers something terrifying awaiting her in the dark — a masked killer wielding a crowbar who’s hellbent on bringing her night to a grisly end."

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Pamela Anderson helps Ashley Benson track down a masked killer in Alone at Night trailer

The horror's ensemble cast also includes Luis Guzmán, Paris Hilton, Winnie Harlow, and G-Eazy.

Jessica is a staff writer at Entertainment Weekly, where she covers TV, movies, and pop culture. Her work has appeared in Bustle, NYLON, Cosmopolitan, InStyle, and more. She lives in California with her dog.

A cam girl's retreat to a remote cabin in the woods turns deadly in the trailer for Alone at Night, Jimmy Giannopoulos' upcoming horror thriller.

Ashley Benson ( Pretty Little Liars, Spring Breakers ) leads the cast as Vicky, a woman looking for an escape after a breakup. She heads to a friend's cabin in the woods, where she continues to model lingerie for her devoted followers on 18 & Over, an adults-only live-streaming site. In EW's exclusive first look at the trailer (above), Vicky soon finds herself terrorized by a masked killer hellbent on bringing her night to a grisly end.

Pamela Anderson and A$AP Nast play kooky sheriff partners who help track down the killer. The ensemble cast also includes Luis Guzmán , Paris Hilton , Winnie Harlow, G-Eazy, Sky Ferreira , John Robinson, Jon Foster, Jake Weary, and Cassius Corrigan.

"With Alone at Night , I wanted to make the kind of movie I would have snuck into as a teen: slasher, stoner, sexy thriller with killer music," Giannopoulos, who co-wrote the script with Diomedes Raul Bermudez, said in a statement. "Playing on the nostalgia of my favorite B-horror/90's slasher films, we truly made a terrifyingly fun film. The themes of isolation and obsession are as old as time, but culture always breeds new ways for them to manifest."

Giannopoulos' previous directorial credits include The Birthday Cake , while Benson recently starred in Angry Neighbors, The Loneliest Boy in the World , and Private Property.

Alone at Night slashes its way into theaters and on-demand on Jan. 20. Watch the trailer above.

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• The 10 best horror movies of 2022
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• The 20 best slasher movies of all time

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Exclusive Interview – Cinematographer Peter Buntaine breaks down the look of Alone At Night

January 20, 2023 by Amie Cranswick

2023 is looking like a good year for horror fans. With releases like M3GAN , Scream VI , Knock at the Cabin and Evil Dead Rise there is something for everyone. Another title worth paying attention to is Vertical Entertainment’s Alone at Night starring Ashley Benson, Luis Guzman, Jimmy Giannopoulos, G-Eazy, Pamela Anderson, Paris Hilton, John Robinson, Winnie Harlow, Cassius Corrigan and Sky Ferreira.

The film follows Vicky (Benson) as she tries to get through a breakup, spending her days in a remote cabin due to her ex kicking her out of their old place, with a plan to spend her next few days as a cam girl for an adult live-streaming website to make ends meet. But in her supposedly alone time to clear her head from everything she’s gone through, her night turns deadly as a masked killer on the loose is set to make her life a living hell. One of the most important aspects of a horror film is the cinematography, so we decided to speak to the man responsible for the look of Alone at Night , Peter Buntaine. Some of Peter’s credits include Don’t Be Nice , Keepers of the Game and Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead . In the below exclusive interview, Peter discusses everything from how he got into the business to the look of Alone at Night , which is in theaters and on demand now…

What led you to become a cinematographer?

I started out doing still photography but couldn’t figure out how I could make any money doing that. I wasn’t really interested in product or fashion photography, I liked street photography. Then I started watching some direct cinema and cinema verite films, especially Maysles Brothers stuff, and seeing how they operated and moved the camera and something just clicked. I started working there and a lot of people I know and work with today grew out of that network.

What was one of the first films you saw where you really noticed the cinematography and made you want to get in the business?

I think I always responded to the look of movies more than anything else about them, but it was some of those movies I was just mentioning, maybe Gimme Shelter was one of the first ones, that really made me want to get into filmmaking. Even though something like Alone At Night is about as far from a documentary as you can get, that’s where I started. But there are some lessons about handheld photography and moving the camera that you learn from documentary that I still hold with me to this day for sure.

What did pre-production look like for you on Alone at Night? Did you storyboard everything out?

Jimmy and I did shot lists for the film, but no storyboards, and the shotlists were mainly to check if there is enough time in the schedule for an allotted day, or that we would have the right piece of equipment. We both like to be inspired in the moment, on location with the lighting up, and see what the actors do, so we kept our plans loose. We also had a lot of references going in to draw from, so we were pretty aligned on the goals of each scene and had a visual shorthand.

Can you tell us something about your work on Alone at Night audiences might not know?

The Key Grip, Bevis Tran, and I invented a skateboard gimbal apparatus for doing a tracking shot in a tiny crawlspace. We should probably patent it and retire.

Do you have a favorite shot from the film?

Whenever I watch one of my movies, what I see isn’t just the shot on screen, but also the experience of making it. For that reason, some of the fancier or more difficult shots to get rarely end up being my favorite. I would just pick any nice close-up of Ashley in our neon blue moonlight, and there’s a lot of those.

Were there any instances during the shoot where you had to pivot and change the shot up because something wasn’t working? If so, can you talk about it?

I think these come up on all films, and it’s a big part of the excitement of making movies, but also the frustration. There’s an old military saying “No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy.” On this movie – the way Jimmy and I did it though – the main plans we made were to provide ourselves the right amount of time and have the right gear on standby to be inspired in the moment – taking cues from the actors, the sets and the lighting. That way we didn’t really get too bogged down into trying to force something to work. The budget and time we had to work with to make the film was so tight, this was really the only way to do it.

Is there a director or showrunner you would like to work with some day?

My favorite working experiences have always been with friends or people I’ve met through friends and built a relationship with, so it’s tough for me to give an answer about future collaborations in this way. I also really enjoy working with people early in their career or first-time directors because they haven’t had the sense knocked into them to do everything the same old way. That said, someone who I would love to meet and get to know, or just know what he is up to is Panos Cosmatos.

Many thanks to Peter Buntaine for taking the time for this interview.

About Amie Cranswick

Amie Cranswick has been part of Flickering Myth’s editorial and management team for over a decade. She has a background in publishing and copyediting and has served as Editor-in-Chief of FlickeringMyth.com since 2023.

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Tv/streaming, collections, chaz's journal, great movies, contributors, a girl walks home alone at night.

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Vampires will always be with us, representative as they are of humanity's endless interest in blood-sucking creatures of the night who stand in the tense space where fear meets desire, and two of the dreamiest most romantic movies released this year have been vampire movies. Jim Jarmusch's " Only Lovers Left Alive " created a nocturnal dreamspace of love and old (really old) age, and music and survival, with two soul mates meeting up again and again throughout the endless abyss of time. Ana Lily Amirpour ’s black-and-white debut feature "A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night," with a vampire in a chador stalking the denizens of an Iranian town called "Bad City," owes a lot to Jarmusch, and in many ways the relationship seen between the two lead characters in Amirpour's film could be seen as the younger incarnations of Adam and Eve in "Only Lovers Left Alive." 

Along with Jarmusch, "A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night" is steeped in other influences: Spaghetti Westerns, 1950s juvenile delinquent movies, gearhead movies, teenage rom-coms, the Iranian new wave. There's an early 1990s grunge-scene club kids feel to some of it, in stark contrast to the eerie isolation of the nighttime industrial wasteland in which the film takes place. The number of influences here could have made "A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night" yet another movie-mad parody or an arch exercise in style; instead, the film launches itself into a dreamspace of its own that has a unique power and pull. The images are suggestive and symbolic, resonant with intersecting meanings and emotion, nothing too spelled out or underlined. Some of the images sit there unmoving for too long, but that very same stasis also helps create and enforce the underlying tension, the tormented space between people even when they are standing very close together. The film feels extremely personal. It is clear in every frame that Amirpour has put her own dream onscreen.

Filmed in the desert in California, with an excellent Iranian ex-pat cast, "A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night" introduces us to a sprawling yet interconnected cast of characters. They all live in Bad City, an Iranian town filled with bad bad vibes, surrounded by pumping oil drills, seen like galumphing prehistoric beasts, going up and down, up and down. The opening sequence is classic Spaghetti Western (even down to the font of the title credits), mixed with a James Dean-era aesthetic, with a kid in a white T-shirt, blue jeans, and a 1950s pompadour walking around on the blasted-out outskirts of town. He drives a tail-finned Ford Thunderbird, its chrome gleaming in the bright sun, the car carrying so many powerful associations with it, of cool-ness, of Americana, of mobility, of status.

The characters we meet are archetypes, made strange when in service to Amirpour's unique vision. There is Arash ( Arash Marandi ), the kid with the vintage car who lives with his heroin-addicted father Hossein ( Marshall Manesh ). Arash deals drugs, too, as well as taking odd jobs as a gardener on the isolated rich side of town, having a tense flirtation with a rich girl who calls him into her bedroom. Dominic Rains plays the pimp Saeed, with the word "SEX" tattooed on the front of his throat, who supplies Hossein with drugs, steals Arash's precious car as payment, and harasses and abuses the prostitute (Mozahn Marnò) who works the dangerous streets for him. There is a little boy wearing a ragged coat (Milad Eghbali) who is a witness to everything, an innocent bystander to the corrupt and horrifying events of Bad City going on right before his eyes.

And then there is the vampire, known as Girl ( Sheila Vand ). The shadows are so pitch-black that she is able to stalk the streets in her full chador practically undetected. She hides almost completely in the liquidy black, revealing herself to her victims from across the wide expanse of vacant lots or abandoned parks. At one point, she skateboards down the middle of an empty dark street, her chador flowing behind her like gigantic black bat wings. The Pimp thinks she might be a prospective streetwalker and invites her back to his place, turning up the techno music, laying out lines of coke on the table. She stands motionless in the background, a shrouded, staring figure. People do not understand what she is or who she is, until it is too late.

Arash, let loose into the night, trying to get his car back from the pimp, trying to meet up with the rich girl at a nightclub, encounters the gliding ghostly figure in a chador a couple of times before they connect. At one point, returning from a costume party (where he went as Dracula), he runs into her on a lonely deserted street. When she sees the drunken Dracula staring up at a lamp-post, mesmerized by the light pouring out into the night, she stops. Does a double-take. Dracula? Is that you?

They have a couple of scenes together, two in particular, one in her basement dwelling place and one out by a power plant, that rank as two of my favorite sequences in any film this year. Both shiver and pulse with unspoken feeling, longing, and an acute and earnest romanticism. The walls of The Girl's dingy apartment are covered with posters from concerts she has clearly seen in the course of her eternal life: The Bee Gees, Madonna. She listens to records on a turntable. There is a whirling disco ball spinning above, throwing its lights across the grime. In a wordless moment he moves towards her as she stands at the record player, her back to him, the music creating a wall of sound, a wall of feeling. There is a rhapsodic catharsis in a moment like that, the stasis of all that came before suddenly releasing itself in a whoosh of emotion.

Conversely, that same static feeling can sometimes just sit on the screen, the tension within the frame dissipating, the image a beautiful picture but with no further revelations to be had within it. Stasis can make the film sag, on occasion, slacken and lose that taut weird otherworldliness. For the most part, though, Amirpour helms the ship confidently and with a lot of love and care.

Similar to Jarmusch, music is extremely important to Amirpour (who has also worked as a DJ), and the music choices in "A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night" are intuitive and perfectly placed. There are a lot of catchy Iranian pop songs, and a couple of sequences are built explicitly around the song used as underscoring. Amirpour has a great feel for that, merging the events onscreen to the song choice in a way that feels inevitable, in a way that opens up the scene.

Much of the romanticism in "A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night" comes from the visuals ( Lyle Vincent shot the film). The cinematography is glamorous black-and-white, crisp and specific, with light from the lamp-posts and car headlights refracting and fuzzing across the screen in a blurry line. The contrast between black and white is high, but there is much spill-over, light cutting through the blackness with difficulty, leaving fragments of itself in a trail behind. There are moments that stand alone, images both familiar (as though seen in a dream or a deja vu), and yet never presented before in just such a way: a black-veiled woman standing on the other side of an empty parking lot, barely perceptible through the gloom, surrounded by nothingness, a figure from a nightmare.

The Girl is a vampire who targets men, specifically men who are mean to women. Because she is in a chador, one can make all kinds of political and social connections with that storytelling device: she is an avenging angel of dominated and scorned womankind. Amirpour lets the images do all of the work for her, a huge strength of the film. The image of a female vampire skateboarding down a street, her voluminous veil flying out behind her, does the job with more poetic satisfaction and truth than any explicit monologue about the repression of women could ever do. At one point, she leans to whisper in the ear of the frightened urchin child, telling him to "be a good boy." It sounds like a threat. Be a good boy, or else … But these are undercurrents only, the subterranean basement of the film's psyche. Essentially, "A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night" is a film about film, a fresh and exciting re-imagining of a well-worn oft-told genre.

Sheila O'Malley

Sheila O'Malley received a BFA in Theatre from the University of Rhode Island and a Master's in Acting from the Actors Studio MFA Program. Read her answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here .

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Film Credits

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014)

Sheila Vand as The Girl

Arash Marandi as Arash

Marshall Manesh as Hossein

Dominic Rains as Saeed

• Ana Lily Amirpour

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At 11:30pm on October 11th, 1975, a ferocious troupe of young comedians and writers changed television forever. Find out what happened behind the scenes in the 90 minutes leading up to the f... Read all At 11:30pm on October 11th, 1975, a ferocious troupe of young comedians and writers changed television forever. Find out what happened behind the scenes in the 90 minutes leading up to the first broadcast of Saturday Night Live. At 11:30pm on October 11th, 1975, a ferocious troupe of young comedians and writers changed television forever. Find out what happened behind the scenes in the 90 minutes leading up to the first broadcast of Saturday Night Live.

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• Trivia When news of this movie first came out, the working title was originally Wolverines, the name of the first ever Saturday Night Live sketch that featured John Belushi and writer Michael O'Donahue. In the sketch, Belushi, a foreign man learning English from Michael, imitates everything he says, starting with "I would like to feed your fingertips to the wolverines" followed by other offbeat sentences involving wolverines. Then the teacher, after saying, "next," has a heart attack, falling on the floor, at which point Belushi does the same, imitating him like he'd been doing with the sentences. Then Chevy Chase walks out, looking like a crew member, with a head set on, and utters the famous line, "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!"

[fromt trailer]

Chevy Chase : Am I still in the show?

[falls over a trash can]

Dan Aykroyd : Jesus Christ!

Chevy Chase : Sorry. Tripped over my penis.

• Connections Featured in Eddie Murphy, le roi noir d'Hollywood (2023)
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During the episode, Stewart started off by addressing the disappointment from fans that Beyoncé didn’t show at the convention. Joking that there would be a special guest, he showed a clip of Michigan rep Elissa Slotkin at the DNC. “You thought it was Beyoncé because everyone thought that it was going to be Beyoncé coming out there, but it was Slotkin all along,” Steward confirmed. “Everybody knew.”

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‘Strange Darling’ Review: JT Mollner’s Deconstructed Date Night Will Make You Love the Movies Again

Alison foreman.

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A single line — paraphrased by countless pornos but said verbatim at a key turn in “ Strange Darling ” — unlocks the heart of JT Mollner ’s razor-sharp psychosexual thriller.

“I’ve never put it THERE before,” says someone in a scene that shouldn’t be described.

An excruciating chase film , a terrifying puzzle-box whodunit, and a testament to romanticizing even the darkest cinema in glowing 35mm , “Strange Darling” is an outright triumph. That much you can know now, although the following review treads very carefully to avoid spoilers.

Audiences going in with the least knowledge of what you could call a gut-wrenching date night will have the best crack at enjoying this movie in theaters — but there’s more than plot to recommend Magenta Light Studios’ jaw-dropping first feature. Yes, writer/director Mollner’s exacting script is a lean, mean vivisection of humanity’s never-ending hunt for a serial killer. Told nonlinearly, with chapter names signposting its story out of order, “Strange Darling” plays like an even more volatile “Pulp Fiction,” cocaine included.

But it’s also proof that actor Giovanni Ribisi has been hiding out as one of Hollywood’s greatest living cinematographers — a fact laid to bare in some of the most beautiful murders this side of Dario Argento’s “Deep Red.” The main cast further asserts themselves as top talent in the kaleidoscopic world of meta-performance. After a brief black-and-white vignette sets the stage with an instantaneous jump-scare, you’ll meet “The Lady” ( Willa Fitzgerald ) and “The Demon” ( Kyle Gallner ) in an opening sequence that feels ripped from the throat of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”

The Demon might not catch up to her yet, but you’ll still feel the breath trapped in your throat as the seething actors and red-on-red shades emanate an angry delirium. Mollner begins his six-parter smack-dab in the middle with “CHAPTER 3: CAN YOU HELP ME? PLEASE?” but the filmmaker clues the audience in on a couple of other things before that. A tightly written crawl says the nightmare you’re about to witness is based on a true story (it’s not) and that it chronicles the last days of an especially sadistic murderer (that part is true… technically ).

Before saying anything of his nightmarish story, Mollner makes a point of including another slate: “SHOT ENTIRELY ON 35MM FILM.” That self-indulgent choice in a horror movie might make some cinephiles scoff, but Ribisi earns the recognition. This isn’t Mollner’s first rodeo — the writer/director made “Outlaws and Angels” before this — and he knows what he’s got. As the tension builds past what even the characters can take, their director wants your eyes open enough to admire what his director of photography has achieved. The lighting and relighting of a single wig in this film deserves its own featurette.

Editor Christopher Bell proves equally essential, assertively reorienting audience perspective with an almost comic relentlessness. Bell’s scalpel-like cuts are meant to screw with your head. That may prove too challenging for some viewers, who will already be high on a supply of arresting violence and original tracks by alt-rock musician Z-Berg. And yet, the dreamy core of “Strange Darling” will push real genre fans forward — finding revelatory relief in comedy so black it could make even a non-smoker want a cigarette.

Electric and unforgettable, “Strange Darling” lives up to its maddening moniker. In a summer movie season that’s been middling at best, this is a must-see — a feat of filmmaking so extraordinary you’ll wonder if it could ever truly be spoiled. You’ve met this man and this woman. You know these tropes and their horrors. But in this exceptionally slippery film, somehow never once losing its traction, you’ve never seen “it” put “ THERE ” before.

From Miramax, Spooky Pictures, and Magenta Light Studios, “Strange Darling” is in theaters August 23.

Want to stay up to date on IndieWire’s film  reviews  and critical thoughts?  Subscribe here  to our newly launched newsletter, In Review by David Ehrlich, in which our Chief Film Critic and Head Reviews Editor rounds up the best reviews, streaming picks, and offers some new musings, all only available to subscribers.

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Love movies? Live for TV? USA TODAY's Watch Party newsletter has all the best recommendations, delivered right to your inbox.  Sign up now  and be one of the cool kids.

After you hit up the back-to-school sales with your kids, why not head home for a trip through the Wasteland with Furiosa?

George Miller's latest "Mad Max" vehicle leads a noteworthy pack of new movies on Netflix, Peacock, Max, Hulu, Apple TV+, Prime Video, Disney+ and Paramount+. August is packed with streaming options for film lovers of all tastes, from action comedies to all-star heist movies. There are recent theatrical releases, like Sydney Sweeney's holy horror flick and a Tom Hardy/Austin Butler biker gang drama , but also original flicks such as a superspy rom-com with Halle Berry and Mark Wahlberg.

Here are 15 notable new movies you can stream right now:

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"The First Omen" isn't the only option for nun horror in 2024. Sydney Sweeney stars in this unholy chiller as a young American novice who joins an Italian convent and navigates increasingly unnerving episodes, including finding out she's pregnant. (Fun fact: She's a virgin!) Things just get worse from there, all leading to a bleakly bonkers climax.

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The heist comedy features Matt Damon as a desperate father and Casey Affleck as a snarky ex-con partnered up for a robbery that gets bungled , leading to cops and crooks alike coming after them. It's got issues but not in the supporting cast, led by Hong Chau as the very understanding therapist of Damon's on-the-lam dad.

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There's a fun dystopian Looney Tunes quality to Paul Feig's action comedy, which imagines a future LA where lottery winners have to stay alive till sundown to keep their cash. Awkwafina plays a struggling actress with her life on the line, and John Cena is in earnest goofball mode as the protection agent hired to keep her safe.

Where to watch: Prime Video

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Josh O'Connor, one of the best things about the aces tennis flick " Challengers ," is also superb in this Italian dramedy. He plays a British tomb raider who gets out of jail and travels to Italy to meet up with friends, find love and plunder some stolen artifacts in a narrative that turns into quite the emotional cautionary tale.

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Romance sparks between pumped-up Midwestern bodybuilder Jackie (Katy O'Brian) and introverted gym manager Lou (Kristen Stewart), but that's also when murderous trouble arises in director Rose Glass'  sultry and sweaty neo-noir thriller . If it's not too early to start talking Oscar nods, O'Brian is phenomenal in a star-making turn.

The moving period biopic tells the story of London broker Nicholas Winton, who saved hundreds of Jewish children in Prague with Nazi forces on the march in 1938. Johnny Flynn plays Winton as a young man racing to help the kids while Anthony Hopkins is the older Nicholas recalling his humanitarian efforts and wishing he could have done more.

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OK, it's not the greatest, but kids wanting to dip their toes into horror could do worse. On-the-rise youngsters like Avantika ("Mean Girls") and Jacob Batalon ("Spider-Man: Homecoming") star in the PG-13 film about college pals who use a cursed deck of tarot cards and discover their eerie readings are coming to bizarre and fatal fruition.

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A New Jersey construction worker (Mark Wahlberg) runs into his high school sweetheart (Halle Berry) in a bar. He thinks she wants to get back together, but instead, she's now a superspy who recruits him for a dangerous mission to retrieve a stolen list of secret agents. Cue the rom-com shenanigans, globetrotting action and A-list flirting.

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Like "Nyad," but better and way more rousing. "Star Wars" alum Daisy Ridley is hugely engaging in this extremely Disney-fied biopic as pioneering athlete Trudy Ederle, who conquered Olympic disappointment, misogyny and jellyfish to become the first woman to swim across the English Channel in 1926.

Where to watch: Disney+

The Instigators review: Matt Damon and Casey Affleck pair up in the latest movie made for your dad

By Jamie Tram

ABC Entertainment

Topic: Film (Arts and Entertainment)

Matt Damon and Casey Affleck have paired up for the latest dad movie. ( Supplied: Apple TV+ )

For a streaming service associated with the bleeding edge of tech, Apple TV+ has grown surprisingly nostalgic in its curation.

Much of its recent slate feels like a throwback to the 90s heyday of mid-budget cinema, encompassing a booze-soaked postmodern noir (Sugar), a legal thriller based on an 80s paperback (Presumed Innocent), and the latest releases from Ridley Scott ( Napoleon ) and Martin Scorsese ( Killers of the Flower Moon ).

In short: Apple TV+ now specialises in content for your dad.

With its heist-gone-wrong premise and a feast of meaty character actors, The Instigators is the streamer's latest bid at reverse-engineering the kind of late-night TV movie best enjoyed in one's favourite armchair with a beer in hand.

Matt Damon and Casey Affleck return to their Boston roots as Rory and Cobby, two fumbling, good-natured crooks roped into a high-stakes election night heist. Neither character exists beyond their broad strokes; Rory's ex-marine and absent father needs a payout to make things up to his kid, while Cobby's an alcoholic criminal on parole with a self-destructive streak. At least both leads appreciably inject a sagging, mid-life misery into their thinly sketched characters.

The job itself – a swift retrieval of cash from a poorly-guarded safe – could hardly be more simple, yet manages to get bungled at every turn. Throw in an aggressive idiot with a gun (a surprise turn by Jack Harlow, Gen Z's premier white boy rapper), a crooked mayor (played by Ron Perlman in a red tie) with secrets stashed away, and the two low-level criminals quickly find themselves stumbling into a city-wide manhunt.

Jack Harlow plays gun-wielding Scalvo. ( Supplied: Apple TV+ )

The film quickly blitzes through this set-up, as if it's terrified you'll start scrolling on your phone. Characters and motivations are introduced with the passionless efficacy of a roll call, squandering the joys of spending time with a top-shelf supporting cast that includes Michael Stuhlbarg and Alfred Molina as the masterminds of the operation. Ving Rhames' fedora-wearing special agent is introduced as a mysterious figure emerging from the shadows, the film lightly insinuating that Luther has been air-dropped in from Mission: Impossible.

The Instigators eventually finds its footing as a frothy chase movie. With both sides of the law closing in, as well as the ticking timer of a gunshot wound, Rory has nowhere to turn but the office of his therapist Donna (Hong Chau; The Whale ). Chau dials back the sinister overtones of recent performances (including last month's Kinds of Kindness ), but preserves her placid, not-quite-deadpan intonation – an essential counterbalance to the incessant bickering between the leads.

Therapist Donna serves as a counterbalance to bickering lead characters. ( Supplied: Apple TV+ )

In a film stuffed with bozos, Donna's intelligence becomes a running joke. The biggest laughs come from her transition from lawful neutral to chaotic good, whether she's negotiating her own hostage situation or playing rock-paper-scissors with competing factions of criminals and enforcers.

The screenplay (by Affleck and Chuck Maclean) may be funny enough to buoy its bog-standard crime drama, but the surrounding film is too hastily stitched together to generate any kind of momentum. Dialogue scenes are regularly marred by wonky shot compositions and stammered editing; the few action beats are barely more exciting, even when a horde of police cars bear down on Rory and Cobby. Curiously absent is the slick kineticism that director Doug Liman flexed several months ago in his Road House remake.

The film is too hastily stitched together to generate any kind of momentum. ( Supplied: Apple TV+ )

Between The Instigators and the upcoming Wolves, which stars George Clooney and Brad Pitt, Apple TV+ seems to be specifically heisting the cast of Ocean's Eleven.

But the intervening decades have undeniably eroded the Ocean's gang's lustre. Damon still occupies a niche in prestige dramas, but no longer retains the thrilling versatility that saw him morph into Will Hunting, Private Ryan, Tom Ripley and Jason Bourne. Few people can name a George Clooney movie from the last decade. Casey Affleck and Brad Pitt have enjoyed recent Oscar wins, but face troubling allegations .

Even at a breezy 100 minutes, The Instigators can't outrun the march of time; the dad movie is in desperate need of a fresh start.

The Instigators is streaming on Apple TV+ now.