The Vast Of Night is eerie, intriguing and will leave you utterly spellbound

FOR an alien visitation flick with barely a glimpse of an alien, this had my kids utterly spellbound.

The low-budget sci-fi, set in 1950s America, is an incredibly confident debut from director and screenwriter Andrew Patterson and was one of the biggest surprises I’ve had the pleasure of watching in months.

Patterson takes on tracking shots, ultra-long takes and ventures into the surreal with complete ease.

We’re in a fictional town in New Mexico, which may or may not be based on Roswell.

It’s the night of an important basketball match at the local high school and we meet local radio DJ Everett and telephone exchange operator Fay.

They start the night wandering around with Fay’s new-fangled tape recorder, thrilling people with the sound of their own voices.

But as Fay settles in for a shift, she hears some very strange noises coming down the line. She records them and gets Everett to put the sounds out on air.

Then, the phone calls start coming in. Apparently, they are not the first people to hear these sounds, which means we may not be alone in the universe after all.

As the evidence starts to pull them across town towards the forest, the pair begin the night of their lives.

It’s a very wordy film, and the actors talk at a frenetic speed, all while lighting cigarettes or chewing gum.

But it’s a real humdinger, too — eerie rather than scary, intriguing rather than out-and-out thrilling.

But it’s also pretty individual in the same way 2016’s excellent Midnight Special was.

It had the whole household spellbound.

The Vast Of Night (12) 89mins

Amazon Prime

★★★★☆

GOT a story? RING The Sun on 0207 782 4104 or WHATSAPP on 07423720250 or EMAIL exclusive@the-sun.co.uk