Thieves in the Night

A group of criminals hold a family hostage in their own home.

It is night-time during the Christmas holidays and Ray (Reid), Cody (Hudson) and Sofie (Barba) are up to no good. They have just killed some people and are now walking the streets with a bag filled with money. Seeking refuge and armed with guns and knives, they break into the house of a family of four: Joseph (Tyler Winchcombe), his partner Stella (Bale), their teenage daughter Mia (Paige) and young son Eli (Sandy Button). The crooks gather the family in the living room (apart from Eli) and their intention is to spend the night in that household and leave in the morning. However, complications will lead to danger and violence.

Separated into three acts, each with its own title, this home invasion feature works well as a psychological thriller, with the tension rising and rising, even though initially the pace is slow. Once the intruders have taken control of the three family members, they proceed to search for a possible fourth, they phone their boss to make plans and then a discussion occurs regarding Mia, as she is the only member in the household who is black. Things get further complicated with the arrival of Joseph's brother, Ben (Olly Bassi), who has a military background. Ben proves to be rather resilient and challenges his captors and it is because of him that the family finds the strength to fight back.

The three invaders are revealed to be professional criminals and out of the three of them, Cody is the one who stands out the most and by a long shot. With a quick temper and frequent profanity, he comes across as aggressive and more than willing to resort to violence. He plays a sort of car-and-mouse game with the family and takes a disturbing interest in Mia. Out of the intruders, he is the one who does most of the talking and whose life is explored the most. In comparison to Cody, Ray and Sofie are less talkative and Ray in particular is reluctant to use violence and has manners. Sofie pretty much sinks in the background.

Regarding the family members, Mia and Ben are the ones who are explored the most, while Stella and Joseph are more or less in the background and especially Eli, who spends the majority of the film hiding from the intruders. Ben is the most courageous and methodical, traits that were obviously gained by his time in the military and he aims to turn the tables on his captors.

Regarding the score, great praise goes to the work of Michel Andriessen, whose rythmic instumental and soft tense acoustic music contributes significantly to the atmosphere of the story.

It would be fair to say that regarding the home invasion genre, this feature does not possess much originality. Bad people trespass on someone's property, they capture them, unexpected people show up, the captive begin to resist their captors. All these are often present in this genre. Nevertheless, this is a tense thriller that succeeds in building up suspense and contains many nail-biting moments.