The Overnight Adam Scott, Taylor Schilling, Jason Schwartzman, Judith Godrèche. Directed by Patrick Brice. Rated R. Opens Friday.
The main characters of The Overnight, married couple Alex (Adam Scott) and Emily (Taylor Schilling), head off to a dinner date with potential new friends Kurt (Jason Schwartzman) and Charlotte (Judith Godrèche) without any idea of the insanity to come, and that might be a good way for audiences to enter into the movie, too. Recently moved from Seattle to LA, Alex and Emily are worried about making new friends, both for themselves and for their young son. When they meet Kurt and his own young son in a local park, they eagerly accept his invitation to come over for a meal and a playdate.
What starts out innocently enough takes a turn for the perverse once the kids are asleep, though, and writer-director Patrick Brice keeps both the characters and the audience on edge as to how things will turn out. The early parts of the story rely a little too heavily on unpleasant cringe humor, but as the characters open up to each other, Brice more effectively balances that humor with emotional revelations that feel genuine even if they start out as uncomfortable jokes.
The depravity escalates so effectively that it’s a little disappointing when Brice pulls back at the end, although the sweetness of the resolution fits with the characters’ fundamentally positive intentions. For all its deviance, The Overnight is really about two couples who love each other very much, and the lengths to which they will go in order to keep that love alive.
