Quartile rating: 8/10 · 1 rating
Desperate to escape his mind-numbing routine, uptown Manhattan office worker Paul Hackett ventures downtown for a hookup with a mystery woman.
After Hours is one of Scorsese's most underrated and distinctive films — a Kafkaesque nightmare comedy that snowballs with relentless, darkly absurdist logic. The plot is a marvel of escalating misfortune, each coincidence building on the last in a way that feels both inevitable and surreal. Cinematography is exceptional: Michael Ballhaus's fluid, swooping camera work through SoHo's nocturnal streets gives the film a feverish, expressionist energy entirely its own. Novelty is extremely high — this is a one-of-a-kind film in tone and conception, blending screwball comedy with genuine dread in a way no other film quite replicates. Acting is solid across the board with Griffin Dunne carrying the film well, though the supporting cast is intentionally eccentric rather than deeply realized. The ending, while conceptually satisfying in its circular irony, arrives somewhat abruptly and feels slightly deflating compared to the intensity of what precedes it.