This is a spoiler free review.
Let me preface this review by saying I have never binge-watched anything before in my life. Nothing I’ve ever watched, including my all time favourite films and TV shows, has been able to hold my undivided attention for more than a couple of hours at a time. You can imagine my pleasant surprise then that I felt compelled to watch all six episodes of Into The Night on Netflix in one sitting.
The premise follows a group of survivors, of various faiths and nationalities, boarding a plane that is supposed to travel from Brussels to Moscow, when their plane is suddenly hijacked by a man with a machine gun shortly before take-off. He identifies himself as working for NATO, and insists the plane instead travels west, going as far as to shoot the pilot in the hand when his demand isn’t followed immediately. What possible reason could this gunman have for acting in this way you ask? It is revealed very early on that sunlight is causing all life on Earth to suddenly die, and the only way to survive is to race the sun around the world, remaining in a perpetual state of night.
As each episode unfolds, character back stories and motives are brought into plain view for all to see and judge. Tensions are at a constant high as the passengers turn on and plot against each other as they travel around the globe at 40,000 feet, constantly aware that if they stop they will die as the sun rises. Decisions they make frequently endanger, enrage and astound each other as they make more of an enemy of time in a dramatic battle against the clock to stay alive, and not to kill one another, hour by hour.
There are so many moments in the series that I will never forget, in particular the ending of episode 4, which had me transfixed on the edge of my seat and unable to glance away from my TV. As someone who is constantly aware of how easily I am distracted by my phone and anything else going on around me, the fact Into The Night totally captivated me at so many moments is incredibly impressive.
I don’t think I have ever watched a series with a more detestable ensemble of characters, and even though I wanted them all to survive to continue the story, I also wanted to watch them all die horribly in a brutal Game of Thrones fashion. I caught myself hurling obscenities at the characters multiple times per episode, and even when reminding myself that these people are trying to survive in a world ending scenario, I still couldn’t hide my desire for them to meet a painful end.
Into The Night is a tense and exciting thriller, packed to the gills with plot twists, superb acting and a master class in intrigue that I cannot recommend highly enough to anyone. For a rewarding and absorbing story, and a cast of characters so cleverly written to be totally loathsome yet engaging, I score Netflix’s Into The Night