I rarely watch movies (nor read novels for that matter), because damn near everything released after 2006 or so is an excuse to make a political vehicle. I asked ChatGPT what could interest me as someone whose favorite movies (off the top of my head) are Fight Club, Jurassic Park, The Matrix, Back to the Future, and probably a couple others that I can’t remember now. It recommended some movies that I had never even heard about, although that’s not particularly surprising given that I haven’t been following movies in a good while.

So, it recommended The Vast of Night, a small sci-fi movie from 2019 or so that pays homage to Twilight-Zone-like stuff from back in the day. It takes place in a single night, following mainly the radio host of a tiny local station at a nowhere town, along with a switchboard operator. Both are young, both want to leave for better pastures.

That night, as most of the town is busy at a basketball game, some of the locals mention seeing lights in the sky. The switchboard operator receives eerie sounds that had never come through her switchboard, and she enlists the help of the radio operator to see if anyone can figure out what that’s all about.

I won’t reveal anything more about the plot. The whole movie takes place in a single night and a relatively short span of time. It’s on the artistic side, with fancy dialogue and ambitious shots. Some very interesting single takes. I thought it nails the feeling, that some of us remember, pre-internet of clutching onto vague rumors and radio testimonies that offer glimpses into a larger reality. I enjoyed the movie quite a bit. I also found the switchboard operator very cute, which is a plus.

It’s no masterpiece. The dialogue-heavy introduction goes on for way too long; it does a great job of establishing the cleverness and competence of the young radio guy, as well as his friendship with the switchboard operator, but it could have been significantly shortened. Once the switchboard operator receives the strange sound through the board, the movie doesn’t stop. I would have liked to say that it’s free of politics, but they had to sneak a “whites don’t care about blacks and indians” in there. Can’t escape that shit.

Anyway, if you enjoy peculiar movies that aren’t the usual garbage, you could do much worse.