‘All Night Wrong’ review: Dating is hard enough without a killer on the loose

The nightmare that can be modern dating proves a strong jumping-off point for a film involving a blind date that ends up in the path of a cold-blooded murderer. It’s a real mood-killer. Set over one snowy night in a tiny town in British Columbia, Canada, All Night Wrong thrusts two ordinary people into extraordinary, frankly terrifying, often hilarious circumstances — the type that really bond, people, you know?

Directed by Jason James and written by Jason Filiatrault, All Night Wrong leans into the surrealism of such wild events through the art of genre-mashing, where indie rom-com meets neo-noir. Here, we find two romantic leads you’ll genuinely barrack for: Severance‘s Zach Cherry and The Apprentice’s Maria Bakalova, whose quest for one night of fun gets them into all sorts of trouble. Together.

All Night Wrong holds all the characteristics of a sweet romantic comedy (or “platon-com,” as Cherry referred to it onstage at its SXSW London premiere, keeping things on the platonic side). It’s a formula. Two people turn up to a blind date. Things escalate. Hijinks ensue. However, the film takes a thrilling turn into myriad other genres, with compelling performances, unexpected action sequences, and a core mystery the characters can’t help investigating to the end. And that body needs to be buried.

All Night Wrong wears its cinematic influences on its bloody sleeve.

James’ film starts where all good rom-coms start: two strangers on a date, awkwardly getting to know each other. Cherry’s Gary is a painfully polite, unpretentious guy with a sensitive heart. Bakalova’s Eli is an unpredictable, dynamic woman who’s just here to have some fun. When they decide to get out of here and make for a dodgy roadside motel, things seem to be escalating. However, just like in Martin Scorsese’s After Hours, things get weird, and Gary’s keen to take himself home. And with all the accidental witness stakes of Billy Wilder’s Some Like It Hot, Gary and Eli make discoveries they can’t unsee.

Now, there’s the tiny issue of a stolen car, a dead body, a suitcase full of money, a mysterious woman in distress (an atmospheric wild card in Emily Hampshire), and a killer on their path (an outlandishly good Tyler Labine) — all of which they’ll have to contend with if they don’t want to end up in jail or six feet under. And they just wanted to have a night out! 

All Night Wrong is near impossible to pin down, genre-wise, seamlessly mashing up elements of ’80s road thrillers The Hitcher and Blood Simple to up the tension, while leaning into ’30s screwball comedies like It Happened One Night for sweeter moments of connection. It’s a film as playful as it is bloody, with a perfectly threatening Labine finding his own No Country for Old Men-style pre-kill monologues with utter conviction, as a tired, jaded man who just can’t understand why anyone would want to live in freezing cold Canada.

Despite being set in the present, Tiana P. Gordon’s production design is the stuff of ’70s and ’80s small-town dreams, from the dingy, heart-themed Lido Motel to the fluorescent-lit petrol station Gasoline Alley. Director of photography Byron Kopman deploys dreamy slow zooms to amplify the unease or romance of scenes, though he’s also equipped with an arsenal of fast zooms for comedic effect. One of the unsung characters of the film is the music, with a grimy synthwave score woven between the film’s Canadian ’70s and ’80s hair metal needle drops, the ultimate effect being an endless night, stuck in time. 

Zach Cherry and Maria Bakalova are perfect rom-com leads in All Night Wrong

Like modern versions of Jeff Daniels and Melanie Griffith in Something Wild, these two complete opposites find themselves careening around town trying to piece together this increasingly dangerous puzzle, finding their True Romance-level confidence along the way. 

Cherry brings delightfully flustered good intentions to Gary, constantly wringing his hands with real “I’ve got a bad feeling about this” energy, while Bakalova shines as utter “live a little” chaos in her silk bomber jacket. Their contrasting dynamic propels them further down a road of no return, and as bumbling amateur sleuths, they’re a delight to watch. Eli is a fearless rookie investigator fuelled by a need for closure while Gary, who admittedly watches a lot of cop shows, tentatively enters rooms declaring, “I’m a good person! I collect action figures!” to avoid injury. Both of them leave their fingerprints over everything, especially murder weapons that could incriminate them, and make more than a few terrible decisions.

However, as the film progresses, we learn more about just why Gary and Eli came here at all, to a random bar on a dark winter’s night, for one evening of throwing caution to the wind. Why is breaking and entering easier for Gary than confronting his real-life problems? Why does Eli need to solve this mystery and deliver a final message of love from a dying man? As the film’s dialogue says, “You should get to know the person you’re burying a body with.” And even though they just met, they might surprise each other.

All Night Wrong makes the case that strangers might see us more clearly than we see ourselves; carrying years of emotional baggage can make self-reflection foggy. Over one wild night, Gary and Eli learn what they’re capable of and what they deserve in a relationship, whether it be romantic or platonic. Somehow, somehow this is the lesson I took from this film, one that includes multiple scenes involving grisly violence with garden shed tools and cassette tapes blasting Canadian ’80s hair metal. Seems right.

All Night Wrong was reviewed out of SXSW London, with North American release dates to be announced.