'Gone in the Night' review: Winona Ryder's sci-fi thriller is a mesmerizing must-see

In the '80s and '90s, there was no one cooler than Winona Ryder. In iconic films like Beetlejuice, Heathers, and Reality Bites, she proved a defining voice of Gen X's angst and youthful recklessness with every snarled quip, crooked grin, and piercing stare. Yet even Winona Ryder grew up and got old. Her casting niche shifted from unflappable It Girl to the harried mom from Stranger Things. She's maintained her cool. But in her latest film, Gone in the Night (previously known as The Cow), Ryder's persona brings an extra edge to a deep-cut exploration into our fear of growing old and uncool. 

Co-written and directed by Eli Horowitz, Gone in the Night begins with a May-December couple whose relationship has gotten rocky. Kath (Ryder) is a middle-aged botanist who enjoys wine-fueled dinner parties with her intellectual friends. Her younger, thirtysomething boyfriend Max (John Gallagher Jr., in glowering douche mode) grows petulant in such settings. His interests include designer ball caps, dive bars, and trolling Kath's friends. A weekend away to a remote cabin was supposed to be a chance to reconnect. However, when a couple of surly twentysomethings party-crash, Kath is forced to face some unwelcome truths about this relationship. 

After a night full of awkwardness and flustering flirtations, Kath learns that Max has run off with the other woman (a blisteringly hot Brianne Tju). Bereft and bewildered, she tries to make sense of this betrayal, which leads her to the cabin's grizzled but sophisticated owner, Nicholas (Dermot Mulroney in smoke-show mode). With salt-and-pepper hair, a deep voice, and a shared appreciation for making fools of cocky young men, he makes a strong impression. But the script by Horowitz and Matthew Derby veers smoothly away from rom-com territory with a sprinkling of sci-fi elements and a series of flashbacks that reframe everything we think we know about that night at the cabin. 

Gone in the Night is too much fun to spoil by giving away its true premise, or even explaining its curious original title. You could call it a dark rom-com, a horror-thriller, or a sci-fi drama and be right, but not entirely. Horowitz and Derby have crafted a sly genre-bender that recalls the outrageous horror-comedies of Ryder's youth, but with a more grounded sense of style that makes its truly twisted final act all the more haunting. 

Kath isn't a heightened version of a goth teen or a murderous mean girl. She's achingly common. Kath could be any of us. She was cool once "years ago," and the constant reminders of that sting. Like many before her, she chased after her youth by chasing a young lover, but ultimately felt frustrated by his lack of maturity and stability. When her sights shift to Nicholas, dashing man of the woods, it seems our botanist has found fertile ground for her heart to blossom. Then come the hidden thorns of this tale. 

The genre shifts and mind-bending flashbacks make it impossible to predict where Gone in the Night will take us. So, like Kath, we are incorrigibly curious and onboard for the ride. The sharp supporting cast of Gallagher, Tju, Mulroney, and Owen Teague create a landscape of generational attitudes, ranging from world-weary Gen Xer to FOMO-driven millennial to take-no-shit Zoomers. Within a tightly knit character drama, Gone in the Night creates a tense discourse about the generation gap, then pushes on the cracks of that conflict to a satirical breaking point of grim but fascinating fantasy. 

Through all these twists and genre turns, Ryder is our reliable guide. She deftly dances through the demand for a wry joke, a wistful smile, a worried glance. But more than this, she carries what it means to be "Winona Ryder" with every step. At 50, the actress looks phenomenal but undeniably older than she did in the '90s. So, when a snotty club kid points out her age, it stings not just because us older audience members might relate, but also because that is Winona Ryder you are talking to! Have some respect! She walked in attitude and smudged eyeliner so you could run with it! 

A pre-existing bond to Ryder's persona makes Gone in the Night's arc hit all the harder. Because even when she's playing an everywoman suffering a series of age-related indignities, this clever film urges us not to relate but to indulge in the fantasy of Kath's adventure. Once more, we want to be in Ryder's role, for better, worse, or Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice! So by the final frame of Gone in the Night, we've not just enjoyed the ride — wild, jolting, and fun though it is. But also, we're left to wonder if we'd have taken the same path. 

With savage wit and sophisticated twists, Gone in the Night is a must-see, whether you treasure great thrills or whether you rightly worship at the temple of Winona Ryder. 

Gone in the Night was originally reviewed out of SXSW 2022, where it played under the title The Cow. Gone in the Night opens in theaters on July 15.