Chattanooga Film Festival 2026: ‘Night After Night’ is wonderfully confusing

Liminal Horror is having a moment. In addition to Backrooms crashing the box office, entries like Exit 8 have stirred up plenty of conversation online. Now, Josh Lobo throws his film Night After Night into the ring. Lobo, who co-wrote the script with Rowan Russell, builds a hypnotic and strange tale that doesn’t make a whole lotta sense, but that’s part of its charm. It’s bedeviling, a story that feels grounded yet outside space and time. For many filmmakers, it would be alienating, but in Lobo’s very capable hands, it morphs into a beastly slice of liminal horror. The film, which made its world premiere at the Chattanooga Film Festival, will have you whipping your head back and forth for days.

Andy (Scott Poythress) works as a security guard at an unknown university. What they do there is not important. Andy needs this job and to keep his mind active. Andy stirs up mundane conversations with fellow guard Willis (Jonathan Sibilly), even though he’s not nearly as chatty as his co-worker. When the university needs a guard to walk the halls during the night, Willis takes up the post without hesitation. What the powers that be don’t tell him is that a naked stranger stalks around the property as the sun goes down and the building empties. Who this person could be remains largely a mystery.

Eventually, the university asks Andy to swap in for Willis for an undisclosed reason. Andy witnesses the same thing: a naked intruder wandering around. He follows this entity to a secluded room that seems to defy logic. Soon enough, multiple naked bodies emerge from the dark, limitless corners like a spider nest that’s been disturbed, unleashing premature spiderlings. Poythress commands the screen with an explosive quiet. It’s no wonder he’s re-teaming with Lobo after 2019’s I Trapped the Devil; Poythress has a way of scratching the surface and uncovering hidden rooms of his craft.

Josh Lobo doesn’t reveal much about what and why this is all happening. It’s a disconnected viewing experience, but the audience becomes so invested in the story that you just can’t look away. Alexis Louder plays an executive of the university and proves instrumental in the mechanics of the peculiar configuration. The cinematography, courtesy of DP Bryce Holden, perfectly captures the somber, reflective nature of the story—equal parts eerie and irresistible.

Night After Night tests the patience of the audience, that’s for sure. But in sticking with it, you may come away with many deep questions about human vulnerability, complacency, and learning how to speak truth to power. Josh Lobo masterfully directs the story with a keen eye for showcasing the richer visual riddles that make liminal horror such an entrancing subgenre. Unlike most other horror styles, it’s the one that forces you to read through the very slim lines to discover what you’re supposed to know.