Alan at Night (2025) Film Review – Unnamed Footage Festival

Alan at Night marks the debut feature film from Jesse Swenson, a pseudo-documentary about two aspiring prank YouTubers, Jay (Joseph Basquill) and Camillo (Jorge Felipe Guevara). The movie centers around a life change, where Jay finds himself needing a new roommate after his friend loses his job and has to move out. Putting out a personal ad, he gets a response from Alan (Chris Ash). Alan seems slightly socially withdrawn, a committed Herpetologist (study of snakes and lizards), Jay and Camillo, along with Jay’s girlfriend Sam (Hadley Durkee), try to coax him out of his shell.

Yet, Alan himself proves difficult to live with, with his loud snores keeping everyone up, and even as he starts to open up to others, he is reserved. After being humiliated at a party, he confines himself to his room, which begins to emit a foul odour, and he only comes out to eat. Tensions rise, with the YouTubers framing the episode around their investigation into Alan and his increasingly bizarre night wanderings.

What is essential to establish, first and foremost, is Jesse Swell’s approach to ‘YouTubers’, as while this is becoming an increasingly common set-up in found-footage horror, the success here is certainly limited. Either they try to go for obnoxious personalities you want to see suffer but become difficult to connect with (Dead Stream is one of the few examples that nailed this to perfection), or there is a certain ineptitude to a filmmaker trying to replicate the feeling of authentic YouTube Creators.

Thankfully, both Jay and Camillo walk that line well, with the immature pranks being slightly obnoxious to see, as they mimic many early channels, but the sincerity behind their friendship is heartwarming and authentic. This draws you into the story, as Alan at Night primarily focuses on character development and drops hints about something a bit more sinister in Alan’s bizarre behavior. To his credit, actor Chris Ash is just as integral to establishing this dynamic, bringing a sort of uncomfortable menace to his role that his friends can play off on their channel.

This complementary characterization is essential, as Alan at Night certainly lands more heavily on the slow-burn horror, with its final elements not really hitting until the closing moments. At the same time, there is little surprise about the outcome here, particularly for the more astute FF viewer and the hints that Swenson drops throughout.

The final moments, thankfully, are glorious and absurd enough to really make the wait worth it; while the character development is solid, a weak conclusion would have sunk this one fast. It is a pretty wonderful string of horror with charming practical effects that make Alan at night memorable. Visually, as mentioned, the heir to authenticity makes the film engaging, from podcast episodes to handheld footage and hidden-camera footage. It feels fully realized, and for a debut feature-length, it is really impressive.

Regardless, the film treads familiar territory, and while engaging, it lacks the shock or polish of directors who have had the chance to refine their vision through the medium. Make no mistake, you will have a lot of fun with this one, and get drawn into the characters. You will fall in love with Alan as well, as he is undeniably one of the best awkward weirdos to grace the genre. However, Alan at Night is just not a standout in the genre, leaning into familiar tropes and not overly shocking or comedic (it kind of touches on various genre elements but never feels fully committed to any one). Still, Jesse Swenson is undoubtedly a name to keep an eye on, particularly if he continues to work in found footage.

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