Editor’s Note: This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, and the movie covered here would not exist without the labor of the writers and actors in both unions.

When I think of Maggie Q, I think of the word badass. The actress has a long career as an action star, which makes a film like Fear the Night an absolute no-brainer. Do you want to see her destroy the hopes of would-be-robbers by kicking their asses? You will get exactly that with Neil LaBute’s Fear the Night. The disappointing fact is that the movie would be exponentially better with more substantial writing and more confident directing.

The film follows Tess, a war vet who returns home after many years of deployment. She lives with her sister, and they have an estranged relationship, with mistrust and annoyance from both sides. The duo is invited to their younger sister’s bachelorette party on their family’s farm. As the party kicks off, intruders interrupt the festivities and demand the ladies surrender the house, as something valuable is inside.

After the first interaction between Tess and the obnoxious, sexist group at a convenience store on the way to the party, it is clear what will occur in the ensuing hours. It would have been interesting if these villains weren’t blinded by their apparent dislike for women because that inevitably becomes their downfall. Between their flurry of colorful language to describe women and their not-so-veiled threats, there is nothing interesting about these intruders. Their reasoning for attacking the house and their vendetta against Tess is only fueled by stupidity and pride. The movie would have been more engaging if some actual cunning were involved from the intruders and the women.

Maggie Q is an action pro. I would say she deserves better, but let’s be honest, women in the industry aren’t given nearly enough anyway, no matter how talented and deserving they may be. Here, she is stoic, darkly funny, and brazenly effortless. There isn’t anything particularly challenging or new here for Q, which is why it feels like she is sleepwalking through the whole thing. However, that doesn’t negate the fact that she is entertaining to watch and an expert at her craft. If anything, the film doesn’t level up to meet her. By comparison, she is, by far, the most talented actor in this ensemble, and she is given much more to work with. Everyone else modulates between awkward, snarky comments directed at Tess, screaming and crying, then dying rather gruesomely.

Fear the Night’s production is overly simplistic, which accentuates how straightforward the narrative is. The setting is not utilized well enough to create suspense or thrills. The villains are comically ineffectual, making Tess’s heroics feel less effective. The action is hardly compelling, often feeling repetitive and uncomplicated. However, the amateur nature of the action reflects a more authentic experience because no one expects these women to be highly trained combatants. But some creative flair would have helped. While the movie moves at a brisk pace, director Neil LaBute draws out the moments of inaction for too long. Despite the bland characterization of the intruders, there is no reason to have them be so feckless and the women so hesitant to fight back. Fear the Night’s downfall is ultimately the lack of innovation and creativity.

Neil LaBute manages to infuse enough tension between the characters to keep the audience engaged, but with how things stand, many of the people on screen are disposable. Aside from Tess, there is hardly any character worth acknowledging, so very little keeps us hooked on who will survive and who will die. The women, excluding Tess, are not given much to make them worth rooting for despite their antagonism towards Tess, which makes them downright unlikable. However, their unlikability can be attributed to their flimsy characterizations and how little we know about Tess and her relationship with the women. All we know is that she doesn’t like them, and they don’t like her.

The dynamics needed to be defined better, and despite some compelling filmmaking, the flagrant disregard for characterization reduces Fear The Night to a mildly tolerable home invasion horror. It’s not worth actively seeking out. Furthermore, the conclusion ends on a sour note, further evoking the “him versus her” mentality the movie cannot shake while alluding to the evolution of some hardly developed relationships.Fear The Night will not inspire rave reactions, but some entertainment will still be gained. Maggie Q is powerful in that regard; she makes the most of what little she is given, making it seem better than it is. There is enough to keep you engaged in the moment, but it’s not enough to revisit.

Fear the Night is now playing in theaters, on demand and digital. It is 92 minutes long and not rated.