Amazon Prime’s ‘The Vast of Night’ engrossing, but slow

By Matt Pascarella

Running time: 1 hour, 31 minutes

It is the late 1950s in Cayuga, New Mexico. A switchboard operator, Faye (Sierra McCormick) and a radio DJ, Everett (Jake Horowitz) hear a strange frequency over the airwaves. When a caller provides them with a possible answer to where and why this frequency is occurring, this mystery deepens. This movie is a little slow to start, and doesn’t gain a whole lot of speed, but I found I was captivated by the characters and what this frequency could be.

In the beginning of the movie, a “Twilight Zone” type show called “Paradox Theater” is shown on a TV screen that leads into the beginning of the movie where Everett is trying to help with the recording of a high school basketball game. He runs into Faye who has a new tape recorder and they go around testing it out. Everett pushes Faye to work on her interview skills.

Faye tells Everett she was reading a magazine that had an article about all the predicted advances that will come about in the future like electric cars, vacuum tube transportation and a phone with a TV screen that can fit in your pocket! A TV screen in your pocket!

When Faye returns to the switchboard, she gets a call from a woman who says there is a strange object. Then Faye hears static and a humming sound from her phone. Faye and Everett try to track the sound down by playing it on the radio and asking if anyone has heard this before.

They do get a caller, Billy (Bruce Davis) who has some information. Could this guy be talking about what I think he’s talking about? Billy begins revealing a lot of information and then the line goes dead.

Billy tells Faye and Everett there is a recording of that sound on a tape in the library. Suddenly, the lights in the town go out. Things get a little strange. Is there something in the sky?

Later, a woman, Mabel (Gail Cronauer) calls in and says she can expand on Bruce’s story. What does Mabel have to say? More weird stuff happens to Faye and Everett. Everett makes a discovery.

What’s his discovery? Does it relate to the weird frequency? What is going on?

I’ll admit, while I enjoyed this movie, it was slightly on the predictable side although it did leave me with questions. Like I said, it does start a little slow, but is pretty interesting once it gets going. Even if you think you have figured out what is going on, I’d still recommend watching this. You may – or may not – be right about how it ends. I give this two-radio microphones up.  <