Nowadays, everyone has a YouTube channel or TikTok account to document every aspect of their daily lives and share with the world in the hope of getting likes and followers. In Jesse Swansen’s directorial debut Alan at Night, which he also wrote, podcasters and video pranksters Jay (Joseph Basquill) and Camilo (Jorge Felipe Guevara) have founded a channel called Rad Apple, where they post videos of themselves playing wacky pranks on people. When Camilo loses his job and has to move out of their Brooklyn apartment, Jay is in desperate need of a roommate. Jay’s girlfriend Samantha (Hadley Durkee) agrees to move in with him in a month, so he only needs to get a new roommate for one month. When he finally finds someone willing to rent the room for a month, he has no idea that it’s going to change his life in the worst possible way.
A man named Alan Whitehead (Chris Ash) from Alabama responds to Jay’s ad for a roommate and seems like a nice guy. Alan is a herpetologist and studies reptiles and amphibians. He’s shy and socially awkward, but he helps around the house and keeps to himself. He’s a good roommate until he starts snoring loudly in the middle of the night and wakes up Jay. The snoring is incredibly loud and sounds unearthly, so Jay decides to start filming Alan at night. Things start to get weird after a party where they convince Alan to drink too much, and he passes out. When Jay and Camilo went in to check on him, while filming everything, Alan was asleep, but opened his eyes and they were white like he was possessed.
As Alan’s nightly activities get stranger, including sleepwalking and binge eating entire jars of mayonnaise, Ash gives an imposing performance as Alan. He’s no longer the quiet, timid guy who moved in with Jay. Ash does an excellent job of portraying a man whose whole personality changes; he gets defensive and angry at Jay for filming him. A putrid smell begins coming from Alan’s room, and eventually, the entire apartment smells like a sewer. Jay is so exasperated that he sets up security cameras around the house to document Alan’s peculiar, increasingly frightening nightly activities.
Alan at Night also highlights the invasion of privacy that is involved with putting everything about someone on the internet and how the current social media culture thrives on going viral. Joseph Basquill gives a realistic performance as Jay, a man who is torn between potential internet fame and the consequences of posting Alan’s obvious struggle with what might be a mental health issue or something much worse online for the whole world to see.
There are some great comedic moments as Jay and Camilo film podcast episodes with various guests that are a great parody of YouTubers. Most of the film is shot in POV style so that the audience feels like they are witnessing Alan’s weirdness with Jay, and this is very effective in showcasing the increasing feeling of dread that Jay is experiencing. These days, everyone has a podcast, but everyone doesn’t have a roommate who might be possessed, snores like a rusty chainsaw, and leaves gallon containers of urine in his room.
Surprisingly, Alan at Night expertly evolves from a story about a roommate from hell into somewhat of a creature feature with some terrifying and slightly amusing practical effects. Impressive and relatable storytelling in the style of those of us who are extremely online makes this a compelling, sometimes disturbing film with a dash of dark humor.
Alan at Night premiered at Chattanooga Film Festival 2025, which is offering a hybrid festival experience again this year.
The post ‘Alan at Night’ CFF Review – Internet Prankster Deals with Roommate from Hell in POV Horror Comedy appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.
