The Night Comes for Us

The Night Comes for Us
Directed by	Timo Tjahjanto
Written by	Timo Tjahjanto
Produced by	Todd Brown Nick Spicer Kimo Stamboel Timo Tjahjanto Sukhdev Singh Mike Wiluan Wicky V. Olindo
Starring	Joe Taslim Iko Uwais Julie Estelle Sunny Pang Zack Lee
Cinematography	Gunnar Nimpuno
Edited by	Arifin Cuunk
Music by	Fajar Yuskemal Aria Prayogi
Production companies	XYZ Films Screenplay Infinite Films
Distributed by	Netflix
Release date	22 September 2018 (2018-09-22) (Fantastic Fest) 19 October 2018 (2018-10-19)
Running time	121 minutes[1]
Country	Indonesia
Languages	Indonesian English Mandarin Cantonese French

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^{[citation needed]}, 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 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][citation needed]}

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[]

External links[]

• The Night Comes for Us at IMDb
• The Night Comes for Us on Netflix
• The Night Comes for Us at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Night Comes for Us at Metacritic