One of my favorite parts of my job is getting to recommend fantastic but lesser-seen indie movies to people who might enjoy them, but in my spotlight this time is a movie that’s soon to change streaming hands.
The horror movie After Midnight is currently streaming on Hulu in the US, but only for a little while as it’s being removed on Tuesday, September 30 (it’s on Prime Video in the UK but isn’t being removed).
Not to be confused with the more recent Taylor Tomlinson game show, or any of the seven previous movies with the same name, the After Midnight in question is from 2019.
It was directed by Jeremy Gardner who also plays the lead role, Hank. Hank is a man living in a rural town whose long-term girlfriend disappears, shortly before a creature starts to haunt him by attacking his house every night. As Hank tries to defend his property from the monster, he finds himself reminiscing on the relationship and what went wrong.
Fans of indie horror will recognize a few faces in the movie with Justin Benson (director of The Endless and Synchronic, and more recently Loki and Daredevil: Born Again) playing a role. He and Gardner are joined by Henry Zebrowski, Brea Grant and Ashley Song.
After Midnight is both a thriller, a horror and a relationship drama and all three parts fit together really well. But don’t just take my word for it; the movie has a 90% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes.
For some reason the audience score is only on 46%, but lots of the criticisms take offence at the smarter storytelling decisions of the movie; its decision not to show the monster too much, and to start with a slower pace. And at least one Rotten Tomatoes review I saw wasn’t for this version of the film.
The highlight of the movie for me is one long scene near the end which sees Hank talking with someone else about his relationship; it’s ostensibly a dramatic scene but the camerawork and direction keep the sense of dread from the horror elements of the film.
It’s well worth a watch, especially if you like your horror tense and spooky instead of simply a procession of jump scares.
Luckily, while the movie is being pulled from Hulu, it’ll still be available to watch online. It’s streaming on Plex and Pluto TV, two free TV streaming services, although neither will let you see the movie ad-free.