Close Menu
  • Login
  • Support Us
  • Newsletter
  • News
  • Features
  • Interviews
  • Reviews
    • Video Games
      • Previews
      • PC
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X/S
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Xbox One
      • PS4
      • Tabletop
    • Film
    • TV
    • Anime
    • Comics
      • BOOM! Studios
      • Dark Horse Comics
      • DC Comics
      • IDW Publishing
      • Image Comics
      • Indie Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • Oni-Lion Forge
      • Valiant Comics
      • Vault Comics
  • Podcast
  • More
    • Event Coverage
    • BWT Recommends
    • RSS Feeds
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Support Us
But Why Tho?
RSS Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube
Trending:
  • Features
    Cosmic Spider-Man card details

    [EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW] The Spider-Man Set Gets A 5-Color Legendary Spider

    09/02/2025
    Lee Corso from College Football GameDay in EA Sports games

    EA Sports Always Understood Lee Corso’s Legacy

    09/01/2025
    Peacemaker Season 2 Episode 2 But Why Tho 10

    Spider-Man Is Coming To Magic And It’s Just Like The Comics

    08/29/2025
    Star Wars Visions Volume 3 Black

    ‘Black’ Sets The Tone For A Bold New Mixtape In ‘Star Wars Visions: Volume 3’

    08/28/2025
    Olivia Colman in The Roses

    ‘The Roses’ Is A Reimagining, Not A Remake, And That’s Why It Works So Well

    08/27/2025
  • Indie Games
  • K-Dramas
  • Netflix
  • Apple TV+
But Why Tho?
Home » TV » REVIEW: ‘Night Always Comes’ Lacks Purpose

REVIEW: ‘Night Always Comes’ Lacks Purpose

Katey StoetzelBy Katey Stoetzel08/16/20254 Mins Read
Vanessa Kirby in Night Always Comes on Netflix But Why Tho
Share
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Reddit WhatsApp Email

Awash in late-night darkness and storefront lights, Netflix Original Night Always Comes has the mood of a character-driven thriller, but doesn’t have enough bite to really sell it. The film, directed by Benjamin Caron, takes place over one night and follows the desperate exploits of Lynette (Vanessa Kirby) as she tries to secure $25,000 to keep her family’s house.

Lynette runs into various obstacles while trying to obtain that money, including her own mother (Jennifer Jason Leigh). The hard deadline of 9 a.m. gives the film plenty of momentum, but the narrow scope also boxes the main character in too much. The back half of the film tries to carve out some backstory for Lynette, an answer to her mother’s vague mentions of Lynette’s troubled past, but it’s still too broad an outline for a main character. As Lynette moves through the night, unfortunately, the $25,000 remains her defining trait.

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

Kirby doesn’t help specify her character, either. It’s a performance that has no root to it. Nothing significant grounds it, so therefore nothing significant changes over the 12ish hours we get to know Lynette. Kirby’s stoic face remains in place even in times of pure adrenaline or fear. Where depth is supposed to be, only choppy dialogue exists. Part of this is in the writing.

The tension between Vanessa Kirby and Jennifer Jason Leigh doesn’t start early enough to resonate.

Jennifer Jason Leigh in Night Always Comes on Netflix

The writing is so focused on moving from point A to point B that the characters’ lives are only given to the audience in awkward pieces of dialogue. In this case, there’s a little too much telling and not showing who these characters are. By the time the film is over, there’s supposed to be some catharsis for Lynette. However, it doesn’t feel like it’s well-earned. It makes Night Always Comes feel like it’s more concerned with its destination than doing the work to get there.

Lynette’s relationship with her mother is too frustratingly held back. There appears to be some juicy tension between them. But their best scene, at the end of the film, can’t land because there’s not enough of that tension at the start. In that scene, the emotional truth of who Lynette is and how her mother views her really comes to light.

Leigh and Kirby shine best in this one moment, where the exhaustion not just from the night but also from the rough life they’ve lived is palpable. It radiates off them. However, despite how much this one scene works, it feels too little too late in the film’s run time.

Night Always Comes has a lot of opinions on social issues but little to say about them.

Jennifer Jason Leigh and Zack Gottsagen in Night Always Comes on Netflix

At the start of the film, news stories about the increasing rate of homelessness play over Lynette’s eyeing various homeless settlements with wariness. A newscaster notes that the poor will hurt other poor people to survive. While this scenario plays out throughout the film, there’s really nothing else the film has to say on this matter.

Night Always Comes is too restrained in these aspects. Specificity would make a stronger case. In the end, it’s an observation of the poor that’s too broad, ultimately coming off as crass.

Where the film does work is in Lynette’s relationship with her older brother, Kenny (Zack Gottsagen), who has Down Syndrome. A lot of Lynette’s desperation stems from not wanting to end up living on the street and having her brother taken by social services.

The city lights of nighttime add some visual character to Night Always Comes.

Vanessa Kirby and Zack Gottsagen in Night Always Comes on Netflix

Kenny joins Lynette during part of the night’s exploits, and it’s here where the film slows down enough to really get a feel for Lynette and Kenny, and the relationship they have with each other. It’s some of the film’s best moments. One moment in particular has them reaching for the other in the middle of a fight, an emotional visual element of what really matters to them: each other.

The nighttime is another aspect that works. The city lights against the dark sky give the film a noir feel. And “night always comes” is an inevitability that the film is better at evoking than anything else in its runtime. A cycle that Lynette needs to break, but which isn’t clear until the film’s over. 

Night Always Comes looks pretty and excels in one or two scenes. But unfortunately, it lacks in specificity of character and theme.

Night Always Comes is available on Netflix

Night Always Comes
  • 5/10
    Rating - 5/10
5/10

TL;DR

Night Always Comes looks pretty and excels in one or two scenes. But unfortunately, it lacks in specificity of character and theme.

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email
Previous ArticleRazer Releases New Low-Profile BlackWidow V4 Keyboards
Next Article If You Loved ‘Highest 2 Lowest’ Watch These Three Kurosawa Remakes Next
Katey Stoetzel

Related Posts

Travis, Ned (Domnhall Gleeson), and Adelola in Season 1 of The Paper
6.0

REVIEW: ‘The Paper’ Season 1 Lacks Conviction

09/03/2025
Mitsuki Yamato Invasion Season 3 Episode 2 still from Apple TV+

RECAP: ‘Invasion’ Season 3 Episode 2 — “The Message”

09/02/2025
John Cena in Peacemaker Season 2 Episode 2

RECAP: ‘Peacemaker’ Season 2 Episode 2 – “A Man Is Only As Good As His Bird”

08/29/2025
Foundation Season 3 Episode 8 promotional still from APple TV+
9.0

RECAP: ‘The Foundation’ Season 3 Episode 8 — “Skin In The Game”

08/29/2025
Ateez featured in KPOPPED
6.5

REVIEW: ‘KPOPPED’ Has Potential But Loses Its Spark

08/28/2025
Sydney Chandler in Alien Earth Episode 4
8.0

REVIEW: ‘Alien: Earth’ Episode 4 — “Observation”

08/26/2025

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here
TRENDING POSTS
Cosmic Spider-Man card details Features

[EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW] The Spider-Man Set Gets A 5-Color Legendary Spider

By Kate Sánchez09/02/2025Updated:09/02/2025

An exclusive look at a new 5-Color Spider entering Magic: The Gathering’s Spider-Man set, and Cosmic Spider-Man is going to be a tough one to take on.

Hololive EN at Radio City Music Hall Events

Hololive EN At Radio City Music Hall Was A Pure Expression Of Fandom

By Adrian Ruiz08/31/2025Updated:09/03/2025

Hololive EN turned Radio City in New York City into the pure expression of fandom: chants, penlights, and community in perfect sync.

Foundation Season 3 Episode 8 promotional still from APple TV+
9.0
TV

RECAP: ‘The Foundation’ Season 3 Episode 8 — “Skin In The Game”

By Will Borger08/29/2025Updated:08/29/2025

Still barreling toward a knock-down, drag-out fight between Gaal and the Mule in Foundation Season 3 Episode 8 ups the stakes.

Hell is Us
10.0
PC

REVIEW: ‘Hell is Us’ Turns Getting Lost Into An Art Form

By Adrian Ruiz09/01/2025Updated:09/01/2025

No maps. No markers. No mercy. Hell is Us trusts you to listen, to feel, and to get lost. And in doing so, it offers something truly rare: a soul.

But Why Tho?
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest RSS YouTube Twitch
  • CONTACT US
  • ABOUT US
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER
  • Review Score Guide
Sometimes we include links to online retail stores. If you click on one and make a purchase we may receive a small contribution.
Written Content is Copyright © 2025 But Why Tho? A Geek Community

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

But Why Tho Logo

Support Us!

We're able to keep making content thanks to readers like YOU!
Support independent media today with
Click Here