Fear the Night

            Maggie Q plays a toughened, yet damaged, Iraqi war veteran named Tes who begrudgingly accompanies her sisters to their parents’ farmhouse way out in the desert for a bachelorette party. Her sister Beth (Kat Foster), a Stepford Wife with an attitude, is unpleasantly combative towards Tes, but she goes because the bride-to-be is her younger sister Rose (Highdee Kuan) who she cares for. The other women along for the party are a mixed bag of vapid and obnoxious. As they get to the farmhouse and begin the festivities they come under attack from strange men wielding bows and arrows, willing to kill to get something they want that’s in that house. 

            This tense home invasion film was written and directed by Neil LaBute who certainly knows a little about toxic masculinity. His first film In the Company of Men was a corrosive drama about two hateful executives who plot to seduce and abandon a deaf woman who works in their office. It was the rare screening where critics were audibly up-in-arms after the movie (which made me respect it even more). His second film Your Friends & Neighbors was about a group of appalling acquaintances who fuck each other over, literally and figuratively. It was like a Seinfeld episode if it was written by the Marquis de Sade. Neil LaBute is the kind of director who can often make you laugh and cringe at the same time.

            The one thing that always impressed me about LaBute is how streamlined and economical his films were. Here too, once the action begins, it doesn’t let up. What also makes this work is Maggie Q. There is a tightly wound, dangerous calmness about her. A run-in at a convenience store with some leering local yokels has her gaining the upper hand quickly with steely composure and a lacerating tongue. You don’t want to mess with her. 

            The attacking goons are menacingly well-played by Travis Hammer, Laith Wallschleger and James Carpinello. And, mercifully, when the attack begins the woman do band together and show their courage and fortitude. But it’s Maggie Q who makes such a formidable opponent. She’s like a dangerous lion just waiting patiently to pounce. It’s up to her to save this hen party from becoming a bloody chicken fricassee. Tes obviously has her demons but, believe me, you want her on your side when you come under attack from dangerous marauders. Probably the best line to come out of this suspenseful little thriller is, “You fucked with the wrong girls!”