A Night Like This review interesting nocturnal connection rendered flat

"A Night Like This follows Lukas and Oliver, two strangers who share a nocturnal adventure on Christmas Eve in London. Each is saddled with his own demons. Lukas (Jack Brett Anderson), a gay man from Germany, struggles with his acting career, while Oliver (Alexander Lincoln) juggles singing aspirations and a failing nightclub. Such life baggage ought to be the glue that binds these two lost souls together but this attempt at intimacy is built primarily through stilted, expository dialogue, riddled with cliches about failures and familial traumas."

"The visuals are similarly uninspired, with the many lengthy conversations between Lukas and Calvert unfolding primarily in dully functional repetitive shot/reverse shots. The lack of depth in the writing is reflected in the flat lighting as well, rendering indoor compositions oddly uncinematic. Moreover, as they encounter various characters a lounge bar owner, a homeless teenager you can't help but notice the dominating whiteness of the casting which, for a film that prioritises queer experience, feels like a glaring misstep, considering how diverse London really is."

"Having said this, emotional sparks occasionally do fly between Lincoln and Anderson, but their on-screen rapport is sadly not enough to temper the largely inert film-making on display."

A Night Like This follows Lukas and Oliver on a nocturnal Christmas Eve adventure in London. Lukas, a gay German struggling with acting, and Oliver, a singer managing a failing nightclub, each carry personal demons. The film attempts intimacy through dialogue, but exchanges are frequently stilted, expository, and clichéd about failure and family trauma. Visuals lean on repetitive shot/reverse-shot framing and flat lighting, making interiors uncinematic and city photography feel like tourist postcards. Casting skews overwhelmingly white, undermining the film’s queer focus given London's diversity. Lincoln and Anderson occasionally generate emotional sparks, but chemistry cannot fully compensate for inert filmmaking.

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