Nocturne

Nocturne may appear to be a clichéd story of a group of imprudent youth getting inebriated over a trivial celebration and doing curious things like contacting the dead, until it stops being that. It is an intelligently thought-out script that promises more than just killing off of the characters one after the other in the name of an escaped spirit. This film illustrates the brilliancy that can be achieved with a little ingenuity to the story, a fantastic screenplay, and a talented ensemble. Stephen Shimek walks us through a well-executed plot that nudges the time, and the reality eliciting a sense of wonderment from the audience.

Evading someone, Jo lets herself into a company of friends celebrating their graduation who don’t expect her there. With six of them gathered around discussing magic and supernatural involvement on the reality, we inevitably walk into an Ouija board situation. Gabe makes the situation tense by convincing everyone to participate in making contact with the ‘benevolent spirits’. With a deck of cards and a wine glass in place of an Ouija board with planchette starts a series of questions, each one of them likes to know something about the other, which brings down some really old beliefs of each other putting a whole new perception to their relationships. Maren abandons the circle they have formed with their fingers on the wine glass breaking Gabe’s important rule of the game when she finds out a truth about Liam. It is then we see the arrival of an uninvited guest when the wine glass breaks.

Jo is still nervous with some messages popping on her phone, Liam and Maren are upset after the little game, Isaac is disquieted after finding out that Vi does not truly love him, and Gabe stands unperturbed by the turn of events, but we see with his pronounced way of looking at things, that he sees something coming. With the truth out in the open, we see the dark side of the characters; the one they had been successful in hiding till then. However, things start to get really tense with Maren’s cryptic message to Gabe and a striptease dice game.

The story of each one of the group is established unhurriedly and with that we understand each other’s opinion of the others when they discuss their plans after graduation. It is noticeable that writers want to make us understand that notwithstanding the immaculacy in character one may portray, there is always a defect hiding somewhere. This organization has been very crucial to bring out and implement the antithetical side of the characters in the story. It is not just the dialogues, an intriguing plot and exceptional performances that narrate the story written by Katy Baldwin, Kristi Shimek, and Stephen Shimek, the lighting of every scene, a dull and delicate choice of color for every frame, and a skillful linking of events that go back and forth in time have contributed to this outstanding output.

Nocturne could not have been what it is without the finesse of the director, the impressive retention of the characters by the cast throughout the film, and the practical effects that make us squeamish. Nocturne succeeds at an unfaltering and well-organized screenplay; it may seem a little confounding at first to understand the overlapping events, but we soon realize that the perplexity is a part of the plot. It truly is a novel and a thrilling experience.