The vastness of the universe is nearly impossible to comprehend, but it’s sometimes just as hard to know what is going on inside someone’s mind. Drawing a parallel between the two, Amazon’sNight Skyweaves a mostly Earthbound science fiction story about people coming to terms with things they can’t fully comprehend, both outwardly and inwardly.
Throughout its eight episodes,Night Skydoes a mostly admirable job of balancing both of its out-of-this-world elements and its more Earthly ones, diving into concepts like depression, grief, and trauma. It doesn’t always tie its narrative threads together in satisfying ways, but the story is saved by some stellar performances from series leads J.K. Simmons and Sissy Spacek.
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Franklin and Irene York (Simmons and Spacek) are an aging couple living in the small town of Farnsworth, Illinois.Night Sky’s first episode reveals that the Yorks are hiding a secret beneath their backyard shed: a portal that takes them to another planet. The Yorks make regular interstellar trips, sitting in a chamber that looks out ontothe barren alien landscape. These treks to another planet are an escape from the Yorks' earthly problems: Irene’s health and Franklin’s forgetfulness.
The Yorks are the heart ofNight Sky. Franklin has a cantankerous but kind air. He very clearly loves his wife and wants to take care of her, but he’s grappling with the fact that he may need help himself. Irene has a youthful spark, despite her age. She is the grounding force for Franklin, who believes that the couple still has many years ahead of them.Having two Academy Award winnersin these roles helps to elevate them past their surface characteristics and make them fully-rounded people.Night Skynavigates the realities of aging through the Yorks, including some of the hard conversations that come with it, and Simmons and Spacek just sell every single moment.
The Yorks have been through a tragedy of their own, with more of how it affected both of them coming in the back half of the season. It’s clear, though, that this event has shaped how Irene and Frank’s relationship moved forward, and in many ways it puts just the smallest bit of distance between them. However, something beyond what the Yorks can comprehend comes into their life, and it both renews Irene’s outlook and raises Franklin’s suspicions.
Outside of the Yorks, however, is where the show starts to stumble. In the second episode, viewers are introduced to a new set of characters: Stella and Toni, a mother and daughter living a seemingly quiet life in Argentina. However, their connection to Franklin and Irene’s story soon becomes apparent. The dynamic between Stella and Toni, unlike the one between Franklin and Irene, sometimes feels too surface-level. Toni is fifteen, and she wants to know exactly why her life is so different from other kids'. Stella is a protective mom who also has a very specific obligation, one that she can’t fully reveal to Toni. Stella’s reservations about revealing more to Toni are explored later in the season, but there is never that much fallout from the reveal, and it doesn’t seem to have any sort of truly lasting effect on the pair.
The Argentinian segments are shot beautifully, with some truly breathtaking landscapes dominating the frame. It’s just hard to get as invested in Stella and Toni’s relationship when they mostly feel like they just push the plot forward and build out the larger story. For a show with such big implications,Night Skyis really at its best when it’s just exploring its cast of charactersrather than explaining its otherworldly elements.
Luckily, the other characters that the show explores are compelling enough to keep things interesting. Those include Jude, the mysterious man who becomes entangled in Franklin and Irene’s otherwise quiet life, as well as Denise, the Yorks' granddaughter, who is also struggling to find her way through life. The Yorks also have to deal with Byron, their nosey neighbor who is also running for city council. It’s not always apparent where the story is taking these characters, butNight Skydoes an excellent job of making them all feel as important to the story as Franklin and Irene.
Without this great collection of characters,Night Skymight not have been able to sell itself quite as well. The first episode moves slowly, remaining focused almost entirely on Franklin and Irene’s struggles. However, the show’s pacing does pick up quite a bit as the season progresses,resulting in a finale that (almost) pays offeverything that came before it. Still, the most rewarding moments are those that ignore all of the otherworldly aspects of the story to really focus on the characters. There are some truly emotional moments inNight Sky, and all of them feel earned, especially with some reveals lending important context to how characters react to their current situations.
While the plot ofNight Skyhints at some larger implications for everyone involved, the show can’t always find a way to pace its beats properly. It also introduces two characters who feel like little more than plot elements, serving only to propel the other, more important characters' stories forward. The show does its best to give some depth to this pair, but ultimately never makes them feel all that significant.
Despite some of its narrative limitations,Night Skyexcels with its characters.Science fiction fans may feel somewhat disappointedat the more grounded nature of the show, but there is definitely enough there to satisfy most audiences. Simmons and Spacek turn in great performances, and the show is worth watching just for them alone. While it can’t always find the right balance between driving the plot forward and stopping for a quieter moment,Night Skyis still worthy addition to the Prime Video collection of series.
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Night Sky
Created by Holden Miller for Prime Video, Night Sky is a 2022 Drama and Sci-Fi television series starring Sissy Spacek and J. K. Simmons. The premise sees a senior couple that finds a strange device that can transport them to a special location that lets them see the sky of another world.
