A24 marketed this movie like a monster flick. They really did. The trailers showed dark woods, swinging lanterns, and something breathing in the shadows. But if you actually watched it, you know it isn't about a creature at all. It’s a claustrophobic pressure cooker about how quickly empathy rots when you’re scared. Honestly, the cast of It Comes at Night is the only reason the movie works. Without this specific group of actors playing off each other's paranoia, the whole "cabin in the woods" trope would have felt stale. Instead, it’s a masterclass in seeing how "good people" turn into monsters when survival is on the line.
The film focuses on two families forced together during an unnamed, highly contagious apocalypse. It's quiet. It's tense. It's basically a study in how a locked red door can become the most terrifying thing on earth.
The core family and the weight of Joel Edgerton
Joel Edgerton plays Paul. He’s the patriarch, a former history teacher who has pivoted into a survivalist out of necessity. Edgerton is fantastic here because he doesn't play Paul as a hero. He plays him as a man who is so deeply committed to his wife and son that he’s willing to be a villain to everyone else. You see it in his eyes—there is this constant, flickering calculation.
Paul has rules.
- Never go out at night.
- Always keep the red door locked.
- Use the buddy system.
- Don't trust anyone.
It's a rigid way of living. Beside him is Sarah, played by Carmen Ejogo. She’s often the emotional anchor, but she isn't "the soft one." In many ways, Sarah is even more pragmatic than Paul. While Paul struggles with the logistics of violence, Sarah is the one who subtly pushes for the protection of their unit at any cost. Ejogo plays her with a simmering intensity that makes you realize she’s just as dangerous as her husband if you threaten her kid.
Then there’s Travis. Kelvin Harrison Jr. is the real soul of the movie. Most of the film is seen through his perspective—his nightmares, his voyeurism, his growing sense of dread. Travis is 17, stuck in a house where his only job is to survive, yet he’s at that age where he’s desperately curious about the world outside. Harrison Jr. captures that specific brand of teenage isolation, made a thousand times worse by the end of the world. He’s the one who sees the cracks in his father's logic first.
The arrival of the second family
Everything changes when Will, played by Christopher Abbott, breaks into the house looking for water. This is where the cast of It Comes at Night expands and the real tension begins. Abbott has this incredible ability to look both innocent and incredibly suspicious at the exact same time. You want to believe him when he says he has a wife and a young son, but Paul’s paranoia starts to rub off on you.
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When Will eventually brings his family back—his wife Kim (Riley Keough) and their toddler Andrew (Griffin Robert Faulkner)—the house gets crowded.
Riley Keough is a powerhouse in minimalist roles. As Kim, she represents the life Paul and Sarah are trying to keep: a young mother just trying to keep her baby safe. The chemistry between these two families is what makes the second act so uncomfortable. For a brief moment, they share meals, they laugh, they drink some old bourbon. You almost forget there’s a plague outside. But the camera lingers just a bit too long on a look or a question that goes unanswered.
Why the ensemble works so well
It’s about the stares. Director Trey Edward Shults (who also did Waves and Krisha) knows how to use his actors' faces.
- Joel Edgerton uses a very stiff, military-style posture to show Paul’s internal tension.
- Kelvin Harrison Jr. uses wide-eyed, silent observation. He barely speaks, but his face tells you everything about his guilt and fear.
- Christopher Abbott plays Will with a nervous energy. Is he lying about his brother? Is he trying to take the house?
The movie thrives on the fact that we never get an answer about the "monster." The monster is the person sitting across the dinner table from you. It’s the realization that if things get bad enough, your neighbor will kill you to save their own child.
The turning point and the "Red Door" mystery
About halfway through, the dog, Stanley, runs off into the woods. He comes back later, sick and dying. This is the catalyst for the final breakdown.
The way the cast of It Comes at Night handles the climax is gut-wrenching. There is a scene where the two families confront each other in the hallway. Paul is wearing a gas mask. Will is terrified. The kids are crying. It’s chaotic and messy. It’s not a polished Hollywood action scene; it’s a fumbled, desperate struggle for power.
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A lot of people walked out of the theater annoyed because the "monster" never showed up. But they missed the point. The monster is the sickness, yes, but it’s also the isolation. When you look at the final shot of Paul and Sarah sitting at the table, their faces are completely hollowed out. They "saved" their family, but at the cost of their humanity.
Where the actors are now
Since 2017, the cast of It Comes at Night has absolutely blown up. It’s funny looking back at this small-budget horror film and seeing how much talent was packed into one cabin.
Kelvin Harrison Jr. has become one of the most respected young actors in Hollywood. He re-teamed with Shults for Waves, which is a masterpiece, and played Fred Hampton in The Trial of the Chicago 7. He has this gravity that makes him feel way older than he is.
Christopher Abbott has carved out a niche as the king of indie psychological thrillers. If you haven't seen Possessor or Piercing, you’re missing out on some of the weirdest, most intense acting of the last decade. He has a way of being vulnerable and terrifying simultaneously.
Riley Keough is, of course, a massive star now, especially after Daisy Jones & The Six. But her work in genre films like this and The Lodge shows she’s not afraid to get dirty and dark.
Joel Edgerton continues to be one of the most reliable leading men we have. He’s moved into directing (The Gift, Boy Erased) and usually picks projects that challenge the audience's perception of masculinity, just like he did here.
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The legacy of the film's performances
Critics usually point to the "A24 style" when talking about this movie—slow burns, heavy atmosphere, natural lighting. But style only gets you so far. The reason It Comes at Night stays with you is the psychological realism.
Think about the scene where Paul and Will are chopping wood. It’s a simple task. But the way they talk—the way they probe for information about each other’s pasts—feels like an interrogation. You can feel the sweat and the itchiness of the wool clothes. That’s not just directing; that’s actors who have fully committed to the "nothingness" of their environment.
There are no jump scares. There are no CGI demons. There is just the sound of a shovel hitting dirt and the look on a father's face when he realizes he has to do something unforgivable.
What to take away from the film
If you’re going back to rewatch this, or watching it for the first time, don't look for the creature in the woods. Look at the way the families interact.
- Watch the eyes: Notice how Sarah and Paul communicate without speaking. They have a "survivor's shorthand."
- Listen to the silence: The movie uses a 2.40:1 aspect ratio that gradually narrows, making the house feel like it's closing in on the actors.
- Observe the lighting: Most of the night scenes were shot with actual lanterns. It forces the actors to physically lean into the light, creating a sense of desperation.
The cast of It Comes at Night creates a portrait of a world where the plague isn't just a biological virus; it's a social one. It destroys the ability to trust. By the time the credits roll, you realize that the title doesn't refer to a ghost or a wolf. It refers to the darkness that comes out of us when we stop seeing others as human.
If you enjoyed the tension here, your next step should be checking out the actors' other "small-scale" thrillers. Specifically, watch The Lodge featuring Riley Keough or Luce with Kelvin Harrison Jr. Both films carry that same DNA of "everything is going wrong and no one is coming to help." Understanding the filmography of this cast helps you see why they were perfectly chosen for this specific, miserable, beautiful piece of cinema.
Review the film again with the knowledge that the "sickness" is mostly a metaphor for the breakdown of the family unit. Once you stop looking for a boogeyman, the performances become twice as scary. Take note of how often Paul's rules are actually the thing causing the most damage. He thinks he's a protector, but he's actually a jailer. That nuance is what makes this cast one of the best assembled for a horror movie in the last decade.