The Night Comes for Us

The Night Comes for Us is a 2018 action thriller film written and directed by Timo Tjahjanto. It was originally conceived as a screenplay and then adapted into a graphic novel, before finally being released as a film.[2] In December 2014, Tjahjanto confirmed he was working with Indonesian artist hub Glitch Network to adapt his original screenplay into comic form.[3] The film stars Iko Uwais, Joe Taslim, Julie Estelle, Sunny Pang, Zack Lee[4] and Shareefa Daanish.

The Night Comes for Us
Directed byTimo Tjahjanto
Produced by
  • Todd Brown
  • Nick Spicer
  • Kimo Stamboel
  • Timo Tjahjanto
  • Sukhdev Singh
  • Mike Wiluan
  • Wicky V. Olindo
Written byTimo Tjahjanto
Starring
Music by
  • Fajar Yuskemal
  • Aria Prayogi
CinematographyGunnar Nimpuno
Edited byArifin Cuunk
Production
company
Distributed byNetflix
Release date
  • 22 September 2018 (2018-09-22) (Fantastic Fest)
  • 19 October 2018 (2018-10-19)
Running time
121 minutes[1]
CountryIndonesia
Language
  • Indonesian
  • English
  • Mandarin
  • Cantonese
  • French

The film is based on a top organized crime enforcer (Taslim) who decides to turn his back on his former life as a killer to rescue a young girl. The crime syndicate sends in a rising gang prospect (Uwais) and legions of thugs to eliminate the enforcer and the young girl.[4][5] The film was released to positive reviews, with critics praising the action and Uwais, Estelle and Taslim's performances, although the excessive violence was criticized.

The film premiered at Fantastic Fest on 22 September 2018.[1] Four days later, it was announced that Netflix had acquired the distribution rights,[6] and was released worldwide on 19 October 2018.[7][8] A sequel, Night Of The Operator, co-written by Tjahjanto with Aaron Stewart-Ahn and featuring Estelle reprising her role, is in early development, alongside a third film.[9]

Plot

Ito is one of six elite enforcers for the South East Asian Triad, known as the Six Seas (Indonesian: enam laut). After massacring a village because a few villagers had stolen Triad drugs, Ito discovers the last survivor, a young girl named Reina. Ito turns on the Triad soldiers present and kills them. He returns to his childhood home of Jakarta and hides Reina in his ex-girlfriend Shinta's apartment. Shinta treats his wounds and calls in Fatih, who used to be in a gang with Ito. Fatih moves them to his own apartment and brings in his cousin Wisnu, and the last member of the old gang, Bobby, a drug addict. He also arranges for Ito and Reina to get new passports.

Arian is another member of the old gang, but has moved to Macau, where he is running a club for the Triad. He is shown slaughtering other crooks because they beat up one of his waitresses. Another Six Seas, Chien Wu, calls him in to help kill Ito.

Ito goes to an old acquaintance, Yohan, to get money he left behind in Jakarta. Yohan is also connected with the Triad, and a fight ensues. Ito kills Yohan's men, but Yohan makes a phone call that brings in corrupt cops. They gun down Yohan and capture Ito.

Bobby discovers Yohan's thugs entering Fatih's building. He gets Shinta to safety and returns to help Fatih and Wisnu fight. They are initially successful despite being heavily wounded, but Triad enforcers led by Elena and Alma arrive. They kill the last of Yohan's men, Bobby, and Wisnu. Arian intervenes before Alma can kill Fatih, knocking her unconscious. Fatih deduces that Arian told Yohan and the Triad where he lived, and refuses further help. More Triad ambush Fatih and Reina in the garage. Fatih has Reina hide while he distracts them. He is killed, but the Triad are all killed by a mysterious woman.

Ito frees himself and returns to Fatih's. Reina finds him and they relocate to Shinta's apartment where they bond. The mysterious woman, known as The Operator, arrives and fights Ito. After she wins, she talks to him instead of killing him, then disappears.

Chien Wu meets with Arian, giving him one last chance to kill Ito, and offering him Ito's place in the Six Seas. In a flashback, it is revealed that Ito and Arian, working out of the warehouse the Triad are using in the present day, entered the Triad together.

The Operator returns to Ito and reveals that her mission is to kill the Six Seas, including Ito, Chien Wu and their boss. Ito commits to killing Chien Wu if The Operator will protect Reina. Ito travels to the warehouse and slaughters the Triad henchmen there. Meanwhile, The Operator kills the henchmen who arrive at the apartment, ending with Alma and Elena.

Arian takes out a sniper who was about to kill Ito, and the two talk before starting their fight. Both are severely wounded. Ito finally gains the upper hand, but leaves instead of killing Arian. Chien Wu arrives and insults Arian, who tries to shoot him, but finds that he is out of bullets. Chien has six people led by Arian's former assistant execute Arian, presumably hinting that his assistant is the new Six Seas.

The Operator guides Reina to Ito and leaves. Ito puts Reina on a departing ship but does not board himself. After they wave goodbye, Chien Wu and more Triad henchmen arrive. Ito grins and drives his car toward them as they open fire.

Cast

Production

In September 2014, pre-production on the film was halted and three months later Tjahjanto confirmed he was adapting the script into a graphic novel.[10]

Release

RADiUS-TWC has acquired North American distribution rights in 2014 prior to the beginning of production,[11][12] but allegations against the label's owner Harvey Weinstein, and its parent company The Weinstein Company about to liquidate its entire assets to Lantern Entertainment, they sold the entire rights to Netflix.[6]

The trailer was released on 10 October 2018.[13] The film was released on 19 October 2018.[14]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, as of January 2021, the film has an approval rating of 91% based on 32 reviews, with a weighted average of 7.6/10.[15] The website's consensus reads, "A bloody thrill ride designed to test the limits of more squeamish viewers, The Night Comes for Us wields a stylishly violent, action-packed punch."[16] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 69 out of 100 based on reviews from 6 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews."[17]

In a positive review, Barry Hertz of The Globe and Mail wrote, "Unless you are on the programming committee for the most literally bloody-minded of film festivals, you have never experienced as ludicrously violent and gore-soaked a film as The Night Comes for Us."[18] Richard Kuipers of Variety wrote: "This cartoonish cavalcade of carnage potently reunites The Raid stars Joe Taslim and Iko Uwais as former friends on a corpse-strewn collision course."[19]

Dan Jackson of Thrillist was more critical of the film. He wrote: "Instead of feeling like the action organically emerges from the situational demands of the narrative, it often feels like the story was reverse engineered to center around the often stunning physical feats."[20]

In October 2018, American comic book artist Robert Liefeld, who co-created the popular Marvel superhero character Deadpool, praised Tjahjanto's work on the film via his Twitter account.[21] In an enthusiastic reaction, Liefeld suggested that Tjahjanto should be given "all the money for Deadpool 3",[22] referring to the upcoming installment of the Deadpool film series. He went on to acknowledge the influence of Indonesian cinema on the action genre while also suggesting Tjahjanto to direct a standalone Cable film, referring to another Marvel superhero character that was portrayed by Josh Brolin in the 2018 film Deadpool 2.[23]

Sequels

A sequel, Night Of The Operator, co-written by Tjahjanto with Aaron Stewart-Ahn and featuring Julie Estelle reprising her role, is in early development, alongside a third film. Tjahjanto has publicly expressed his hope for the movie to be made as soon as Netflix greenlights the production.[9]

References
  1. "The Night Comes For Us". Fantastic Feast. 26 September 2018. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  2. "TNCFU Graphic Novel Tweet".
  3. "Glitch Network Tweet".
  4. "Indonesian film 'The Night Comes for Us' comes to Netflix". The Jakarta Post. 22 September 2018. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  5. Gullickson, Brad (27 September 2018). "Timo Tjahjanto and Joe Taslim on Unleashing Action Movie Hell in 'The Night Comes For Us'". Film School Rejects. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  6. Miska, Brad (26 September 2018). "Netflix Brings the Action This October With 'The Night Comes For Us'". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  7. Kuipers, Richard (19 October 2018). "Film Review: 'The Night Comes for Us'". Variety. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
  8. Motamayor, Rafael (19 October 2018). "Netflix's The Night Comes For Us is the wildest martial arts film of the year". Polygon. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
  9. Cotter, Pádraig (5 January 2021). "The Night Comes For Us Spinoff Updates: Will Night Of The Operator Happen?". Screen Rant. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  10. "Yayan Ruhian Sports A Ghastly Image On The Set Of COMIC 8: CASINO KINGS". Film Combat Syndicate.
  11. Kit, Borys (1 January 2014). "Sundance: Radius-TWC Nabs North American Rights to 'The Night Comes for Us'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  12. Fleming, Mike (1 January 2014). "Sundance: Radius-TWC Pre- Buys North American On 'The Night Comes For Us,' Next Pic By 'The Raid' Team". Deadline. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  13. Knight, Jacob (10 October 2018). "Trailer For The Night Comes For Us Kills Everything In Its Path". Birth Movies Death. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  14. "The Night Comes For Us Trailer Brings Bruised and Bloody Action". ComingSoon.net. 10 October 2018. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  15. The Night Comes For Us (2018), retrieved 22 January 2021
  16. "The Night Comes for Us". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
  17. "The Night Comes for Us Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  18. "Review: The Night Comes for Us is the absolutely bananas action film you've been waiting for". Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  19. Kuipers, Richard (19 October 2018). "Film Review: 'The Night Comes for Us'". Variety.
  20. Jackson, Dan. "Netflix's New Crime Thriller 'The Night Comes for Us' Is an Extreme Action Epic". Thrillist. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  21. Post, The Jakarta. "'Deadpool' creator Liefeld praises 'The Night Comes for Us'". The Jakarta Post. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  22. Liefeld, Robert (20 October 2018). "Give Timo Tjahjanto ALL the money for Deadpool 3". Twitter. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  23. Liefeld, Robert (20 October 2018). "The Indonesian cinema is providing so much influence on action films worldwide". Twitter. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
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