Robert E. Hull

Keira Knightley ponders whether to do some writing or pop out for coffee in a scene from Last Night

Writer-director Massy Tadjedin’s clever and knowing film, Last Night, which stars Keira Knightley, Eva Mendes, Sam Worthington and Guillaume Canet, is certain to be labelled as a “relationship drama” (I’ve just done it) because life’s a rush and we often require descriptive shorthand. It would be unfair to judge it by that summary, however, because this is an absorbing, enigmatic, occasionally amusing, and quite poignant film. Evocatively shot and with a beautifully minimal score, it exists in the dreamy, half-light of dusk and dawn.

Trust, betrayal and temptation lie in wait for Joanna and Michael Reed (Knightley and Worthington), a successful professional couple living in New York. At a work event Joanna senses an attraction between her husband and his new colleague, Laura (Mendes), and though any impropriety is denied, it leads them to an argument when they return to their apartment. And, while they manage to make up, tension hangs in the air with Michael due to leave on a business trip with Laura the following morning.

Joanna promises to be a dutiful writer while Michael is away, suggesting the trip is an opportunity for her to have precious creative time but this fallacy dissipates as she leaves the flat in search of a caffeine fix. It’s a journey that produces a chance meeting with Alex (Canet), a charismatic Frenchman, who was, briefly, Joanna’s partner. The two arrange to meet for dinner.

With Joanna and Michael separated, deception and paranoia come to the fore and Last Night becomes a will-they-won’t-they?’ story of potential infidelity. This progression is handled with care and there is no suggestion of veering towards thriller territory. Instead, we flit back and forth as the couples explore their romantic entanglements. (more…)