Film Journal 2024: Late Night With The Devil

Film Journal 2024: Late Night With The Devil

Directed by Cameron and Colin Cairnes

The irony of the present controversy regarding the filmmaker’s public admission over using AI, which is seen as an issue because of the way the question of AI has shaped the most recent strikes in Hollywood, is that this controversy exists over a film that is arguably about our ability to know what is real and what is not.

I don’t know. I get the larger issue. I get the role we as viewers play in terms of support. I also get our role as viewers play in supporting indie projects like this. To suggest this is morally complex, or morally ambiguous territory would be to understate the matter. However, simply taking the film for what it is, it’s also kind of interesting that the whole controversy adds some subversive subtext to the viewing experience.

Controversy aside, Late Night with the Devil is a uniquely imagined, and imaginative, journey into a bygone world, one where late night shows were event t.v., and where the late night wars were as real as the ripped jeans and tshirts that made up most of our wardrobe. The way the film brings this period to light was very well done, written into the practical set designs (more irony noted) in a way that accentuates the films creativity.

I loved the way the whole story was constructed to. We are being told the story through narration, which brings us through an opening 20 or so minutes which set the stage for the real concern- this particular episode of our main characters late night show, played to pitch perfect perfection by Jack Delroy, made in the midst of ratings concerns. What unfolds over the rest of the film is the unaired episode.

I did find myself wondering at points over the course of this film, whether the story actually ends up getting too complex for it’s own good. The set up I mentioned above seems simple enough. Where it goes with the story reaches much bigger and broader than that simple construct, offering layers of commentary on a few intersecting ideas. But then I found myself still ruminating over those complexities after I got home. This is where my appreciation for its thematic presence really started to grow, touching on everything from the wrestling with faith and doubt, exploring the nature of sin and its ability to colonize our lives, the trappings of capitalism, and even more intimate questions of identity and personhood.

Sure, its possible to experience and enjoy this simply on the level of a good horror film. Here I also think it delivers. It’s not jump scares, its more of a psychological fear that drives this one, inviting us to give ourselves over to the idea of a world where competing spiritual forces are infact very real, and then testing the lines of our cynicism and our doubts, exploring when and how we want to take things seriously. Perhaps most profoundly, these things don’t manifest simply as spirits in our imagination, but in the very real ways we operate in our specific socio-political realities, and in our relationships. This is where the arc of our main character becomes to fascinating to watch.

So many things to ponder here and to experience and to mull over. And it struck some legitimate notes of terror for me, both as a horror and as a commentary. Love that it takes a some big, imaginative swings, and on such a small budget. The controversy will be what it will be, and this film even has an opportunity to say something real about that. As a film though, I thought this one was effective and impressive.