HIFF2022: The Allnighter is an emotional journey toward catharsis with high stakes

 

 

 

 

Aimee Graham's The Allnighter spins an unexpected and understated tale of two somewhat lost souls helping each other through unexpected circumstances following a chance encounter. Against a suspenseful backdrop of familial gambling addiction, loan sharks, and auto theft, The Allnighter throws Ph.D. student Terence (Owen Beckman) through his paces as the stress mounts to get back vital research. Likewise, co-lead Belle (Gretchen Lodge) has her own bouts of stress and perceived arrested development from her family's perspective. Together, the two navigate a harried experience that promises to lead both to either a place of catharsis or forever changed family dynamics.

 

One of the biggest strengths of The Allnighter is the film's ability to split the character development between the two leads. Belle's family life is not ideal and is tinged with tragedy and unanswered questions. At the same time, Terence lives in the shadow of his celebrity brother, who has chosen to ignore their mother's serious gambling addiction and cries for help. In bringing the two characters together, they each undergo compelling personal growth through circumstances that are less than ideal.

 

Terence and Belle meet through a chance encounter at a pawn shop where Terence is trying to hock a $500 piece of astronomy equipment to pay off his mother's gambling debt while the pressure is mounting to complete groundbreaking research. When Terence's car is stolen by associates of Belle's sponsor, he finds himself in desperate need of regaining the research while navigating the ever-present shady figures holding his mother's debt over her and the family's head. Belle, seeing this desperation, uses Terence's predicament to suit her own goals of appeasing her family's expectations for her.

 

The Allnighter boasts a lot of movie pieces that flow together satisfyingly while leaving the audience yearning for more time in its world with its characters. Notable supporting performances include a patient and endearing David Koechner as Terence's father and an intimidating posthumous performance by Tiny Lister (who passed away in 2020) as Belle's sponsor. These performances help give emotional weight to the drama unfolding and important context and texture to the world where our two lead characters reside. In Lister's case, his performance brings forth a sense of danger and uncertainty to Terence's quest to regain his research.

 

Seizing opportunity in Terence's precarious situation, Belle enlists him on a trip to the desert to meet her family under the guise of the pair being engaged. In exchange, Belle will get Terence's vital research back for him in time to meet his deadline. This excursion into the fraudulently betrothed gives the film a vital bit of tenderness and helps further the bond that slowly and carefully forms between the two leads.

 

The personal stress and agitation Belle and Terence experience throughout The Allnighter benefits from a high-energy script and strong filmmaking with Aimee Graham at the helm. The pressure that mounts for Terence to get his research back and his mother out from under the heel of loan sharks brings out a ticking clock of tension that pairs wonderfully with the interpersonal drama that develops between him and Belle.

 

The polish of the script and strong performances give the film a breakneck pace that doesn't let up, even when the climax leads into deep but quiet character moments in the denouement. The Allnighter impresses throughout its runtime and is a memorable exploration through one man's frantic family life and one woman's lonely and listless personal life.