There was an interesting little horror movie released a few years ago, titled After Midnight, that presented viewers with a man who claimed to have been spending a lot of time every evening ensuring that a monster didn't get into his home and attack him. Take Back The Night is, at a very basic level, similar to that film, but it is also so much more, due to the lead character being female and the nature of the attack being even more of a violation.
Directed by Gia Elliot, making her feature directorial debut with a script co-written between herself and her leading lady, Emma Fitzpatrick, this is the story of an artist named Jane who is attacked after a night out. There are no other witnesses, the evidence on her body is somehow inconclusive, and her history of drug misuse and mental health issues lead the police (represented here by a detective played by Jennifer Lafleur) to doubt her recollection of the incident. Not willing to tolerate being questioned on her own behaviour, and not happy about being disbelieved, Jane decides to use social media to spread her story with others, and to empower those who have found themselves in the same position. This puts a target on her back, with some even assuming that it is just another piece of art created to boost her career.
Watching Take Back The Night is a frustrating experience, because the script feels very much like two very different movies. The moments that show how Jane is being treated after her trauma all ring depressingly true, and I am sure that many will angrily recall similar experiences of their own, and it’s an excellent idea to make the central threat so pervasive without it being seen by anyone else. Unfortunately, other scenes don’t work so well. The main supporting characters aren’t as well fleshed out as they could be, a bigger backstory is hinted at that never fully comes to fruition, and the performances are disappointingly inconsistent.
Elliot and Fitzpatrick always remember their main targets though, and they hit a lot of bullseyes when shooting at the culture of misogyny and victim blaming that makes it much more difficult for women to report assaults, and to be believed, than it should be. We live in a world in which many men still think a tiny percentage of false claims, or knowledge of someone’s past behaviour, somehow makes this sympathetic default stance a dangerous proposition, when the verifiable statistics show that isn’t the case, and that the system still makes it painfully difficult for many victims to see any kind of justice. If they can endure the process of dealing with the authorities.
Fitzpatrick is very good in the lead role, playing an imperfect character who is very much aware of the entirety of her journey to this point in her life. She effectively shows how a person can be terrified and damaged at the same time as being admirably strong and outspoken. Lafleur isn’t half as good, sadly, but part of that is to do with her being the stern detective, and at least having that character as another female helps to make them a bit more tolerable as they act in a way that embodies some of the attitudes that victims of assault can face. Angela Gulner is very good, playing the sister of the main character, and her character has a slightly more nuanced journey, despite also not rushing to believe Jane’s traumatic experience. Then we have Sibongile Mlambo, stuck playing an unnecessary extra antagonist who creates more tension for Jane. She is a reporter, apparently offering a sympathetic forum, but perhaps laying a trap, and the film could have worked just as well without her inclusion, especially when the film-makers could have shown some more of the social media side of things, and how one perceived lie can turn a large group of followers into the modern equivalent of torch-wielding villagers.
Overall, the food outweighs the bad here. There are some better films that this could be paired up with, including the excellent Lucky and the aforementioned After Midnight (both featuring Brea Grant in some capacity), but Take Back The Night is an important reminder to those who may be feeling worn down while they try to empower themselves, or even just try to get through daily life in a world sometimes seemingly full of booby-traps, all-too-quiet nighttime city streets, and dead ends.
7/10
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