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The Sunlit Night

✭ ✭   Read critic reviews

Germany, Norway · 2020
1h 22m
Director David Wnendt
Starring Jenny Slate, Alex Sharp, Zach Galifianakis, Gillian Anderson
Genre Comedy, Romance, Drama

Between New York City and the far north of Norway, an American painter and a Russian émigré find each other in the Arctic circle. Together under a sun that never sets, they discover a future and family that they didn’t know they had.

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What are critics saying?

40

Arizona Republic by

It is hard to imagine that a Scandinavian-set comedy starring Jenny Slate would lack charisma, but unfortunately, the most interesting characters in The Sunlit Night are a yellow barn and the sprawling scenery of rural Norway.

75

The Film Stage by Jared Mobarak

You couldn’t ask for a better guide through the psychological landscape of her character’s desires than Slate. Her ability to be hilarious despite a quiet role like Frances lends an indelible charm that ensures we’re in her corner from the beginning.

50

The Hollywood Reporter by John DeFore

Slate and Sharp (a Tony winner for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time) can't be blamed for their lack of chemistry, and if sparks aren't flying between them, at least viewers can occasionally drown in gorgeous coastal scenery, shot nicely by Martin Ahlgren.

50

IndieWire by Kate Erbland

At least there’s Slate, who gamely approaches her character with sensitivity and care (the actress also produced the project) and keeps Frances grounded even as The Sunlit Night sputters around her.

40

Variety by Peter Debruge

Here, Wnendt suppresses his naturally provocative streak to deliver an aggressively cute existential comedy instead.

63

Movie Nation by Roger Moore

Whatever they edited out of The Sunlit Night, they made certain to keep the funny, sweet and sunny parts. And Slate makes the time pass like a late summer Green Flash — an enchanting moment or two or three, and gone.

60

The New York Times by Teo Bugbee

This movie about artistic inspiration is meandering and slight, but, in a way, it provides evidence for why it’s helpful to cast actors with movie-star charisma.

38

Boston Globe by Ty Burr

Taken as a whole, The Sunlit Night is fey and inconclusive, and whether something of more substance got cut in the post-Sundance re-edit or was never there to begin with is at this point moot. The movie’s up a most beautiful creek without a paddle.

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