Night Moves (Kelly Reichardt)

The immensely talented Kelly Reichardt follows up the excellent Meek's Cutoff with this moody and sombre take on a thriller.

Night Moves follows a trio of eco-activists turned 'eco-terrorists' (played by Jesse Eisenberg, Dakota Fanning, Peter Sarsgaard). They come up with a plan to blow up a dam.

The first part of the film is one of subdued and quiet nervousness - Recihardt's supreme control over visuals, editing and actors really brings that nervous energy to life. It's a big thriller plot told in a naturalistic, modest manner, and that's surprisingly refreshing. The central three cast members all handle themselves excellently, especially Eisenberg and Fanning. The former offers a darker and less convincingly confident (in terms of character rather than actor, I hasten to add) spin on his familiar persona, which segues beautifully into full-on paranoia and unease in the film's later chapters. Fanning too impresses as Dena - a confrontational and restless teen who nonetheless comes across as increasingly out of her element.

Later, the quiet nervousness transitions to a more explicitly tense and paranoid mode where everything is ready to burst. In terms of the basic plot, it's pretty familiar fare, truth be told. But again it's the elegant, artful delivery that allows it to rise above its genre limitations. Reichardt uses subtle, ambiguous foreshadowing & imagery, evocative cinematography (in one highway scene, it's as if the car headlights are aggressively staring right at our uneasy, paranoid 'heroes') and carefully delivered setpieces to really make everything resonate. If Meek's Cutoff was designed to make you thirsty, then Night Moves wants you to squirm and feel just as frightened and nervous as its characters.

As for opting to centre the film around activists, the film definitely benefits from a near complete unwillingness to judge or comment on the actions. Instead, we're presented with numerous situations that raise questions about those blurry lines between right and wrong. It highlights issues of sustainability, but does not preach. The context adds thematic weight for the viewer to ponder without in any way dragging the film down with heavy-handness.

Anyway, as far as I'm concerned Night Moves is a mature and expertly crafted work that further cements Reichardt's talents as one of America's most reliable and talented filmmakers. There's something that feels really organic about the way she tells her stories, and she lets the films' styles and mood sink in without even drawing explicit attention to it. She makes it look easy, when it is clearly anything but.