Somewhere in 1950s New Mexico, on one fateful evening in a small town, a switchboard operator and a radio DJ come across a sound on the airwaves that neither of them can place. Andrew Patterson's The Vast of Night, a 2020 science-fiction mystery, spends its 89 minutes following that sound.
What is The Vast of Night about?
Fay works the town's telephone switchboard. Everett is the charismatic voice of the local radio station. Both are young, both are fascinated by anything that carries a signal, and both are on shift on the same night at the dawn of the space race. Then an odd frequency cuts across the airwaves, unlike anything either of them has heard before, and the two set out to learn what it is and where it is coming from. Their curiosity is the engine of the story: a pair of radio-obsessed teenagers with the right equipment, the right instincts and a long evening ahead of them. Over the course of a single night, what began as a curiosity grows into something that could change their own futures and the story of the place they live in.
About the cast
Sierra McCormick and Jake Horowitz head the cast, and the film rests largely on the two of them. Gail Cronauer, Bruce Davis, Cheyenne Barton, Gregory Peyton, Mallorie Rodak and Mollie Milligan fill out the credited ensemble. Andrew Patterson is the director.
Context & significance
The period matters as much as the mystery. Setting the story at the start of the space race places it in years when the sky had become a subject of everyday conversation and when radio and the telephone exchange were the nervous system of a small community. The two leads are defined by those machines, one connecting calls and the other broadcasting, so the plot moves through voices, static and things overheard rather than through spectacle. That makes The Vast of Night a quieter kind of science fiction, closer to a campfire tale told over the airwaves than to an effects showcase. It is a United States production listed under fantasy, mystery and sci-fi, and its running time of just under an hour and a half keeps the events of the night tightly wound. Viewers who like their mysteries built from atmosphere and conversation will find it a natural fit.
Watching The Vast of Night on Ktime
K-Time offers The Vast of Night with a Persian dub as well as Persian subtitles. Anyone can read this page, while playback needs a K-Time account login. The service is built around Persian-language viewing for the Iranian diaspora, with menus and player controls in Farsi.