Love is more than an emotional thing. Its a physical, spiritual sometimes metaphysical thing. Within AFTER MIDNIGHT (directed by Jeremy Gardner and Christian Stella) all of these attributes are robustly packaged. It starts as a tender love story,  Abby (Brea Grant, A Ghost Story) and bartender Hank (Jeremy Gardner, Bliss) are in love and little moments cross over their life’s. They gift, touch and kiss every day.

Ten years later and Hank wakes up alone in an empty home with a shotgun punch hole in the door and a note to say goodbye.  The hole was caused by a monster, banging and charging his door. Night after night it comes. After midnight. Without fail. And this is the root of physical, spiritual longing that the film subjects us to. Hank it is obvious is deeply despairing of his loss. The thumping rage is but a small note in the gothicness of this tale.

Hank drinks and drinks. He rolls into depression. Every night he waits for the creature. Fires a gun and barricades himself into stop it. Abby’s police officer brother Shane (Justin Benson, Synchronic) dismisses Hank’s insistence on the monster. No science. The spiritual is dead. No value in it. But there it is. 

Even Hanks best friend Wade (Henry Zebrowski, The Wolf of Wall Street) thinks Hank is paranoid and riddled with loneliness.  That is the route of power in AFTER MIDNIGHT.  It is also the frank intelligence of the piece. The power of loss is what directors Gardner and Christian Stella bring to the fore by using the visual space. Stella was the DOP on the previous venture of Gardner and it seems he allows for the rich manipulation on film of space and colour. Using all this to execute an emotional roller coaster for the audience.

THE DISC / EXTRAS

The 1080p presentation max’s out the the colour and lighting but still felt occasionally flat.

The Battery is an exceptional addition to the Blu Ray set and stands above all the extras. The commentary, the pitches, the frankly silly self interview and the Lakeland Florida Q&A.

TWO-DISC SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

• Limited to 2,500 units

• High Definition Blu-ray™ (1080p) presentations of After Midnight and Jeremy Gardner’s first feature, The Battery – available on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK

• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing

• Reversible sleeve with a choice of artwork designs

• Reversible fold-out poster

• Limited edition collector’s booklet containing new writing on After Midnight by William Dass and an archive piece on The Battery by Jeremy Gardner

DISC ONE: AFTER MIDNIGHT

• Original 5.1 and 2.0 Stereo audio soundtracks

• Audio commentary with directors Christian Stella and Jeremy Gardner

• Lakeland Florida Q&A, featuring Stella, Gardner, actors Ashley Song, Nicola Masciotra and Taylor Zaudtke, script supervisor Elise Stella and 2nd assistant director Juan Ortiz

• Pitching ‘Something Else’, Stella and Gardner pitch the character of Wade to Henry Zebrowski. Featuring an intro by producer Aaron Moorhead

• Self-Interview While Self-Quarantined During the Coronavirus Outbreak, brand new interview with actor and producer Justin Benson, recorded exclusively for this release

• Brea and Barak find Fantastic Fest Scooters, actors Brea Grant and Barak Hardley hunt down scooters following the Fantastic Fest screening of After Midnight

• Behind-the-scenes featurette

• Outtakes

• Behind-the-scenes image gallery

• Official international and UK trailers

DISC TWO: THE BATTERY

• Original stereo audio

• Audio commentary featuring writer, director and actor Jeremy Gardner, producer and actor Adam Cronheim and director of photography Christian Stella

• The Making of The Battery, feature-length 90-minute documentary on the making of the film

• Featurette on the music of The Battery

• Outtakes

• Theatrical trailer