I Am the Night (2019) User Reviews

Very promising start - I just wish I hadn't researched the real people

[eddieo1969 · 8/10 · 29 January 2019]

I enjoyed the first episode. It sets out two line that we know will connect. Both lines have sympathetic lead characters Pine a down on his luck reporter, who could be a composite of lead character in the best Noir films. Eisley is the poor, lost, innocent soul, adopted as a baby and brought up in the countryside trying to connect with her natural (and rich) family in LA.

It all seems very promising and I will be definitely been watching the next episodes.

I have sort of ruined it for myself by researching the people. Right now after the first episode I really wish I had avoided the temptation to Google the real characters. I have the feeling the director will let the secret out of the bag quite quickly but if you can avoid researching them I believe it will enhance your experience.

PAINSTAKINGLY SLOW...but excellent acting.

[sethompson-80775 · 8/10 · 13 February 2019]

I am surprised by the bad reviews. The acting is superb, and the setting and clothing DO match the lower class population from the sixties era. Someone commented that there was no segregation after 1959....HELLO??? The Civil Rights Movement BEGAN around 1958-59 and there was A LOT of work that still needed to be done. It's an excellent program, I just hope that the pace will quicken as it moves along.

Could Have Been Something Very Special ...

[ReluctantPuppet · 6/10 · 10 March 2019]

An engaging subject coupled with a strong cast, I Am The Night oozed potential. Unfortunately the end product has been diluted to the point where even thought there are only six episodes it feels stretched out. And rather than the mature/adult tone the story merits, we're presented with I Am The Lite. It's Alien Covenant when it could have been Alien. I wouldn't recommend against watching, simply to go in with low expectations that way you won't be disappointed.

Into the Night

[Reelnerd · 7/10 · 29 January 2019]

Reel Review: I Am the Night Producer Patty Jenkins Starring: Chris Pine, India Eisley, Jefferson Mays A new limited series from filmmaker Patty Jenkins (Monster, Wonder Woman) detailing the real life events surrounding the infamous 1947 murder of Elizabeth Short otherwise known as The Black Dahlia. Next to the Ripper murders the Black Dahlia has captured the imaginations of armchair detectives through the decades and is equally as infamous. The first of six episodes premiered tonight on TNT starring Chris Pine as a down and out news reporter who has fallen from grace after rubbing certain powerful parties the wrong way after running an expose on one George Hodel who is very well connected. George is believed by many including his son (a former LAPD detective) to be the slayer of Elizabeth Short. A young woman raised all her life in Nevada comes to learn that her past is a lie and that George Hodel is her grandfather and leaves home in search of her roots to the chagrin of her adoptive mother. The episode ends with the young woman making it to LA seeking to reconnect with her grandfather and journalist Jay Singletary once again set upon the trail of Dr. Hodel and the secrets that he may be hiding. This is episode one of six and is planting the seeds of what is to come in the series going forward. Chris Pine as usual gives a stellar performance as the disgraced journalist brings both his comedic chops and a sense of tragedy to his character. India Eisley is also great as a young woman whose life is turned upside down and the ending of tonight's episode has me stoked as to what is to come this season. I am a long time true crime buff and the Black Dahlia case is one that has fascinated me for a very long time. Especially in recent years George Hodel's name has figured prominently as the preeminent suspect in the murder of Elizabeth Short. Just google the name George Hodel and you can read a little bit about some of the accusations lobbed against him that will make your stomach turn. If your a student of true crime or just a fan of mystery thrillers then chances are I Am the Night will probably be to your liking.

Mostly true story of Fauna Hodel and her unusual childhood.

[TxMike · 26 June 2019]

My wife and I watched this at home on DVD from our public library. It is about 5 hours + or - and presented in 6 episodes. We typically watched 2 per night. As is the norm with these mini series a good 2 to 3 hours of programming is stretched to have it fill 6 episodes so it often gets a bit slow. Still it is a very captivating story from the 1960s Los Angeles.

India Eisley is Fauna Hodel, raised by a black mother just outside Las Vegas, she always was told she was a mixed race child. But her mom would never tell her much. After digging around in 1965 at age 15 and finding her birth certificate, she learned that Tamar Hodel was her birth mother and she became determined to find her. All that is pretty factual.

A character was created for dramatic effect, Chris Pine as Jay Singletary, Los Angeles reporter and military veteran of the Korean War. This character suspects Fauna's grandfather, Jefferson Mays as physician George Hodel, in the murder of the Black Dahlia and perhaps other crimes. So the paths of Fauna and Jay eventually get intertwined.

Another departure from truth comes from depicting George Hodel as living in Los Angeles during the 1960s when in fact he had left the country around 1950 after his trial.

Still it is all a very interesting presentation, Fauna did find her mother, in Hawaii, and grew up to have an interesting and productive life, dying only in 2017 at the age of 66.

What a let down

[ghcheese · 6/10 · 5 March 2019]

I watched all seven episodes. And I was getting excited for the ending to reveal some amazing conspiracy. It didn't. It left you sitting there going "huh". So I looked up some things. And guess what? Non of it fit this story at all. Do your self a favor. Don't watch this. I give it a six because for six episodes I was intrigued. It was the final episode that killed the whole thing.

Very Well Done

[bryanwoolman · 9/10 · 17 February 2019]

Series successfully uses actual people and events to craft a story that could easily span a dozen series. Not all of the events happen in the order they did in history, but the writer has skillfully put them together to make a six unit masterpiece. Excellent period piece (sets, cars, buildings) and very well acted.

Disappointing

[vickysantamaria · 6/10 · 17 March 2019]

Started watching this after listening to the Root of Evil podcast on which it's based. The first episodes seemed promising, but it just fell flat and felt rushed in the last couple of episodes. Pretty disappointing

No roots

[Vivkon · 9/10 · 28 January 2019]

This is a fascinating story of revealation: the mystery of an adoption centered on one girl. The TV series is rife with striking elements of romance and detective, chicanery. Acting is enjoyable and the storyline is quite promising. It looks like knowing the roots can be dangerous for truth-seekers, but fascinating for show viewers.

Where is the Black Dahlia?

[OperaTarte · 6/10 · 12 February 2019]

Fauna's final words to Hodel - "You are boring." are opposite to reality. Hodel's character had more 'life' and reality to it than all the others who are either on automatic robotic stance or completely over wrought. Fauna's sudden surge of philosopher-savant at the end is so unbelievably contrived it's unbearable. We finally discover Hodel's 'vision' but not what it meant to him. Somehow the timeline felt reversed - the audience should have been shown 1917 towards the beginning. The way it was written in only served as more of a let down.

It's only because I am familiar with the actual story of the Black Dahlia that gives the story any texture. Now we will probably never know 'what' it was that made Hodel walk down that formidable corridor in the middle of the night as we peer with him underneath that door and see .... ?

The center of the story has all but dissolved. There is over acting and under acting. Chris Pine tries too hard to convince. India Eisley has absolutely no depth to her performance - it's one-tone. The plot, editing and directing is disjointed and scattered. The crux story-line of the Black Dahlia seems to be serving only as a tease to keep watching a drawn out tale. It had so much promise and has disappointed too much. The 'wrong fashion era' wardrobe is the least of their worries. I've corrected my original rating to reflect my disappointment.

Had potential

[jesser299 · 5/10 · 21 October 2019]

This show just didn't live up to how good it should have been.... Chris Pine. Love him. The lead actress... she started with promise, but I kept wondering when her outer façade would break and we'd begin to see genuine emotion (we never really did). Ultimately, it set up such an eerie, creepy mystery with real world inspiration, old Hollywood setting with awesome costumes and sets... but along the way, it totally lost my interest. I was curious enough to see the ending, so I stuck with the limited series to the end. But it felt like a mediocre show that should have been great.

1960's film noir is so mesmerizing I wish I could binge watch it through to the end

[Ed-Shullivan · 10/10 · 29 January 2019]

The first episode was over as soon as it seemed to start. This story is so intriguing that it will surely capture a significant viewing audience and be the main conversation at the company water cooler. For us baby boomers the 1960's were a magical yet simpler time. The producers have done an excellent job with recreating the Reno Nevada and Los Angeles city landscapes as well as the fashion styles of the 1960's era.

Mrs. Shullivan and I love a good old fashioned film noir/mystery and "I Am the Night" is simply top notch. A pretty young girl named Pat (India Eisley) is being raised by her mother Jimmy Lee (Golden Brooks) until she finds out her real name is Fauna Hodel and her birth mother and grandfather live in Los Angeles. So which 15 year old mixed race girl who seems to be an outcast at her high school by both whites and blacks would not want to seek out her family roots?

There is a somewhat sneaky paparazzi named Jay Singletary (Chris Pine) who knows how to get that money shot that no one else could get and although he comes across as a bit of a druggie loser, we also hear that at the young age of 18 he was writing award winning stories for a reputable U.S. newspaper.

So Fauna Hodel gets on a bus and is headed to LA to seek out her roots........she is not alone. Mrs. Shullivan and I can't wait for the next episode. What a great series.

So convoluted!

[sdt4944 · 6/10 · 6 February 2019]

Changed my rating after watching Episode 2. Basically, I understand that Fauna is trying to find her birth relatives, but am totally confused as to who belongs to who....hopefully further episodes will be easier to follow. All in all, acting is good though I don't think Chris Pine will win any awards; seems he's trying too hard in my opinion.

Lacks

[bb-d-19690 · 5/10 · 4 March 2019]

Though the acting is good, the fact that the program moves at a snails pace to try to create a lengthy story line where none exists is just sad. Might have been better as a 90 minute movie.

Solid Show

[Bouge75 · 21 February 2019]

This is a very good show that is rooted in the Black Dahlia case. I love how they are bringing in the idea that George Hodel may have had ties to the occult. If you research him, you will find his connections to various occultists.

For those saying there was no segregation in NV, you are correct. However, they are not depicting "legal segregation." They show how even in NY/CA, people "segregated" themselves when it came to communities, who they socialized with, etc. So this may not take place in the south, but racism existed in still exists everywhere. Also, they also saw how all different people also came together when they showed the "art scene" in CA. Again, no where did they ever depict legal segregation so those of you who keep saying that are WRONG!

All in all, great show.

Okay suspense drama thriller of secrets and hidden skeletons that may be connected to a famous murder!

[blanbrn · 6/10 · 14 February 2019]

"TNT's" new drama series "I Am the Night" is one that's done thru flashbacks and past connections of the characters memories as all of this starts to reveal and unravel and connect to a dark past of all involved which may be linked to a famous L.A. murder. Supposedly based on a true story the limited series is a tale of one Fauna Hodel(India Eisley) who's adopted and raised by an African American mother in Nevada close to the California state line, it's only later when some secrets and things are revealed that she ventures over into the golden state to find out about her real mom and connect with her grandfather who's strange, dark, and mysterious maybe a bad man. A sidekick and wild card is the Jay(Chris Pine) character an alcoholic and down in his dumps investigative reporter who may have a connection to this young girl and her grandfather which appears to lead all down a dark path looking into a famous "Hollywood" murder mystery. Overall interesting series that's a tease of suspense and mystery.

slow with good noir pulp style

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 5 March 2019]

It's 1965. Pat (India Eisley) is considered part negro in East Sparks, Nevada. She finds her birth certificate uncovering her adoption by her negro mother. Her real name is Fauna Hodel and was abandoned by her mother from a rich white family. She heads out to L.A. and is told that her troubled mother is dead. Jay Singletary (Chris Pine) is a rundown stringer reporter on the Examiner. He got into trouble as a reporter for the L.A. Times. He gets an assignment on a dead girl hacked to pieces. As he investigates the series of murders, it leads to the Dr. George Hodel, Fauna's biological grandfather and the old Black Dahlia case.

This is a six-episode limited series based on Fauna Hodel's true crime novel. The first episode has her life in East Sparks and I find the racial existence very interesting. India Eisley is a rather quiet actress. Even her movements are quiet which does impart a slow pacing to the show bordering on sluggishness. Chris Pine's side of the story is a bit confused. It makes more sense for her to be the sole main character. He can join her in the second episode during that killing. There isn't much mystery to this as Geroge's evilness is revealed in a straight forward manner. It does have the dark Hollywood noir style. I love the grim pulpy vibe but it moves a bit too slow. The turns are too leisurely. The final ending is building up to something explosive but ultimately fizzles. Again, Jay is basically unnecessary and the tension gets somewhat diffused by him.

I am a fan

[ssim124 · 10/10 · 29 January 2019]

I love it when a show holds my attention from the first episode..this could be a certified winner

Great portrait of American society of 60s

[maciejjrybicki · 7/10 · 5 November 2021]

Racism, fight of Afroamericans for their rights, social inequalities... For me it was the best part of this series. Besides it has "something" which keeps you watching.

So far so good!

[Sublime217 · 9/10 · 29 January 2019]

I was impressed. First episode held my attention, good character development, interesting story... looking forward to the coming episodes.

Seems that it's ok

[brutus-56596 · 7/10 · 30 January 2019]

First episode. First hopes. I can not say this is what I really expected from it, nevertheless it seems that all the season will be attractive and the sofa with macbook in hands will be much more preferable than any other sort of activity. In short - must see. Cheers)

Soooo slow...

[janmanuel2 · 5/10 · 27 February 2019]

I can barely keep watching this. The first episodes are mainly the young woman walking around looking at things with wide eyes. I like dramas that are well written. I'm not one of those people that require constant action. This is not one of those good dramas. I feel it is poorly done and over hyped. I'd rather watch an older Black Dahlia movie or documentary. My husband agrees it's slow but wants to see it through, so I guess I shall keep watching. My 5 stars may decrease.

A Black Dahlia Historical Mystery

[greggwager · 8/10 · 11 March 2019]

This variation on Roman Polanski's Chinatown promises viewers similar not-so-seemly, if not downright salacious stuff, this time with a tidy, happy ending. It even shares one of Chinatown's most poignant lines, "cherchez le femme."

On a more subliminal level, it also serves as infomercial for Wonder Woman 1984, which shares talents of executive producers Patty Jenkins and Chris Pine. India Eisley bravely portrays the icy protagonist, an innocent teenager in the 1960s trapped in confusing identities of race, sex, and family.

It gives us the creeps, but also a bit of history. A policeman named Steve Hodel suspected that his eccentric father, Dr. George Hodel, led a secret life apart from his lucrative gynecology practice that included flamboyant acts of sadistic mutilation inspired by famous surrealist artists.

Meanwhile, Dr. Hodel's incestuously conceived daughter/granddaughter, Fauna Hodel, wrote the memoir that I am the Night is based on. The prevailing version of events depicts Dr. Hodel secretly returning to Los Angeles after fleeing to Asia to avoid the infamy of the Black Dahlia and other murders.

This story carefully comments on how yellow journalism distracts America from the evils of the real world. Chris Pine's tragic, cocaine-addicted journalist Jay Singletary refuses to ignore truth and pays for his tenacity. Shellshock lingering from the Korean War also torments him.

Even more convincing is Singletary's salty editor, played with stone-faced grit by Leland Orser, who explains how journalists, like Galileo, know the world is round. Hodel's almost supernatural henchman and protégé, given eerie grotesqueness by Dylan Smith, emphasizes how evil lurks, but also how Hodel's evil is several notches above what even our most vivid imagination is capable of.

Dramatic fireworks were also on display from Golden Brooks as Fauna's bitter African American adoptive mother and Connie Nielsen, the droll but evil stepmother who dabbles in performance art. Even bit parts as good cop (Jay Paulson's Ohls) and bad cop (Yul Vasquez's Billis) help the twisted tale along.

As the Watts riots peel away an older layer of not just Los Angeles's racism, but its disturbing police corruption as well, Fauna bizarrely passes into an adulthood that appears to reset the familiar moral tone of television. Still, what better way for Fauna as a woman to counter Hodel's torture chamber than with quips as a naïve art critic?

Perhaps there is a limb I am crawling out on by endorsing I am the Night, with no pun intended in light of the thematic amputations of this story. In my own terms as a naïve art critic, America's stories are most compelling when facing truth no matter how morbid. Even simpler, I enjoyed it.

Wrong fashion!

[Ajsmith10 · 6/10 · 5 February 2019]

Great series so far but the fashion is way off for 1965! It's more like 1950s era. It's completely put me off watching.. how can they get it so so wrong. It's the swinging 60s for goodness sake with mini skirts not Bobby socks. There was no racism in '65 .. it was all love, peace and soul music. They got it SO wrong.

So slow

[juliehampton2012 · 3/10 · 6 March 2019]

Could have condensed this into a 2 hour movie and it would have been much better. Most of the scenes were of the girl slowly walking around wide eyed.