At First Light (film)

At First Light[1] (also titled First Light)[2] is a 2018 Canadian science fiction thriller drama film written and directed by Jason Stone and starring Stefanie Scott and Théodore Pellerin.[4]

At First Light
Directed byJason Stone
Written byJason Stone
Produced byChris Ferguson
Michael Baker
StarringStefanie Scott
Théodore Pellerin
CinematographyDavid Robert Jones
Edited byGreg Ng
Music byEdo Van Breemen
Production
companies
Oddfellows
Bunk 11 Pictures
Distributed byGravitas Ventures
Release date
Running time
90 minutes[1][2]
91 minutes[3]
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish

Plot

A high school senior, Alex, encounters mysterious lights,and she gets amazing, supernatural abilities but no memory of who she is or how she got the powers. Her friend Sean finds her and offers to take her into his home until she recovers. A dubious organization tracks her down, and the two are forced to run away, and have to try and find out the truth of what actually happened that night.

Cast

Release

The film premiered at South by Southwest in 2018. In August that year, it was announced that Gravitas Ventures acquired distribution rights to the film in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand. The film was released in theaters and on demand on September 28, 2018.[5]

Reception

The film has a 54% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 13 reviews.[6]

Chris Knight of the National Post gave the film a negative review and wrote, "The actors are fine, though the drab screenplay does them no favours."[7] Kevin Crust of the Los Angeles Times gave the film a positive review and wrote, "Pellerin and Scott are such deeply compelling performers that you are likely to forgive the familiarity of the lovers-on-the-run, first-contact narratives."[1] Matt Donato of Slash Film rated the film a 7 out of 10 and wrote that it "nimbly condenses similar, more complicated stories for a greater storytelling accomplishment."[8]

Nick Allen of RogerEbert.com gave the film a negative review and wrote, "Stone’s movie is one of the most frustrating kinds to run into while covering a festival comprised of upcoming filmmakers, the calling card project."[9] Joshua Speiser of Film Threat awarded the film two stars out of five and wrote, "Try as I might, I just wasn’t all that invested in the fate of Alex and Sean or their own private close encounter with the third kind. Which is a shame as the filmmaker shows a keen flair for creating both an interesting visual and aural palette."[10] Peter Debruge of Variety gave the film a negative review and wrote that it "doesn’t invent anything new, per se, but somehow, in splicing elements from other movies, it fails to achieve the emotional core of its own formula."[3] Justin Lowe of The Hollywood Reporter also gave the film a negative review and wrote, "Lacking the flash of big-budget blockbusters or the originality of a uniquely imagined world, First Light is left trying to make the best of overly familiar sci-fi themes."[2]

References
  1. Crust, Kevin (September 27, 2018). "Review: Propelled by Théodore Pellerin and Stefanie Scott, 'At First Light' is science fiction on an intimate scale". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  2. Lowe, Justin (March 10, 2018). "'First Light': Film Review; SXSW 2018". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  3. Debruge, Peter (March 12, 2018). "SXSW Film Review: 'At First Light'". Variety. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  4. Parker, Andrew (October 8, 2018). "ALIEN NATION: WRITER-DIRECTOR JASON STONE TALKS ABOUT AT FIRST LIGHT". TheGATE.ca. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  5. Ramos, Dino-Ray (August 28, 2018). "Gravitas Ventures Acquires SXSW Sci-Fi Thriller 'At First Light'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  6. "At First Light". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  7. Knight, Chris (October 5, 2018). "At First Light is most useful as a primer for those completely unacquainted with sci-fi". National Post. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  8. Donato, Matt (March 16, 2018). "'First Light' Borrows The 'Chronicle' Template For A Satisfying Sci-Fi Romance [SXSW]". Slash Film. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  9. Allen, Nick (March 18, 2018). "SXSW Film Festival 2018: The World Before Your Feet, Alt-Right: Age of Rage, First Light". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  10. Speiser, Joshua (March 11, 2018). "First Light". Film Threat. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
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