He’s been a fanatical supporter of the genre for as long as he’s had push broom eyebrows, so the prospect of What Happens at Night, Martin Scorsese’s first out-and-out horror flick, is already tantalizing enough. Throw into the mix a leading turn from frequent Marty muse Leonardo DiCaprio—opposite Jennifer Lawrence, plus GOATed screen veterans Patricia Clarkson, Mads Mikkelsen, and Jared Harris—and you’ve got a recipe for spine-chilling cinematic gold.
What Happens at Night was first announced as one of many Scorsese-produced projects back in 2023, with the octogenarian auteur deciding to hit the director’s chair a few years later. It’s adapted from the gothic mystery novel of the same name by Peter Cameron, which got strong reviews from literary critics and was shortlisted as a finalist for the 2020 Los Angeles Times Book Prize. In the book, a couple travels to an unnamed Balkan country seeking to adopt a child; the wife has terminal cancer, and they hope that the trip can save their ailing marriage before she dies.
By the sounds of it, the text teems with page-turning atmosphere, ripe for adaptation to the big screen. Further, the GoodReads synopsis teases major The Shining vibes: “On arrival, the couple check into the cavernous and eerily deserted Borgarfjaroasysla Grand Imperial Hotel, where the bar is always open and the lobby populated with an enigmatic cast of characters,” including a “debauched businessman” and a mysterious faith healer. “Nothing is as it seems in this baffling, frozen world, and the more the couple struggles to claim their baby, the less they seem to know about their marriage, themselves, and life itself.” (As to whether this particular establishment also boasts a blood-filled elevator is yet to be determined.)
