The Vast of Night 2020

In 1950s Cayuga, New Mexico, Everett, a teenage disc jockey, plays a pivotal role as he prepares for an upcoming high school basketball game. Alongside his friend Fay (Sierra McCormick), they test a new tape recorder. Afterward, Everett escorts her to her job as a switchboard operator, before heading to the WOTW radio station for his night shift.

While tuning into Everett’s radio show, Fay is startled by an ominous audio signal, which interrupts the broadcast. She starts receiving calls from concerned citizens reporting a strange wind-like phenomenon in the sky. Attempting to contact her friends, she faces abrupt disconnections, but manages to reach Everett, who promptly urges his listeners to share any information regarding the peculiar signal.

During the show, a caller named Billy (Bruce Davis) breaks into the airwaves. He shares a gripping tale about his military past and his experiences at a top-secret desert facility. He recounts being warned that revealing the clandestine project could “endanger America,” and describes an enormous object housed in a hidden underground bunker. He also reveals that he heard the same mysterious signal while on a plane.

Billy, who suffers from a lung condition he believes was caused by his experiences at the site, discusses other military cover-ups involving similar signals. He suggests they may be attempts at communication, transmitted from heights beyond that of any man-made aircraft.

As their call momentarily disconnects, Billy calls back to reveal a shocking detail — all personnel involved in the project were either black or Mexican, a choice made to ensure their credibility would be questioned. He mentions that a friend managed to record the mysterious signal and sent it to him and others. Tragically, one tape was entrusted to an Air Force member in Cayuga, who is now deceased.

Realizing that Billy’s recordings ended up at the local library, Fay acts decisively and steals them. However, Billy is disconnected again, and she and Everett find the signal recording and attempt to broadcast it. Their efforts are interrupted when the radio station loses power.

Determined, they rush to the switchboard office where Fay receives a flurry of reports about an unidentified object in the sky. They meet Gerald (Mark Banik) and Bertsie (Cheyenne Barton), also seeking information about the mysterious flying object. An elderly woman named Mabel (Gail Cronauer) phones in, promising to share more insights about the unusual signal.

When Everett and Fay visit Mabel at her home, she cryptically recites messages in an unfamiliar language. During their conversation, Mabel asserts that the sighting of spaceships piloted by aliens is no coincidence — these extraterrestrials use their transmissions to hypnotize and abduct humans during the basketball game when the town is least alert. She even expresses a desire to be taken to the alien ship to reunite with her son, abducted years before.

Not fully convinced, Everett departs with Fay, who picks up her baby sister Maddie. They are soon joined by Gerald and Bertsie, and when Everett plays Mabel’s alien message, he unwittingly sends them into a trance, causing a near-fatal car accident. The eerie atmosphere prompts panic, leading Everett, Fay, and Maddie to flee into the woods.

As they navigate through the trees, they discover charred branches and an ominous opening above, suggesting something has recently crashed. A realization dawns on Everett — the existence of aliens may not just be a figment of their imagination. Their journey leads them to an open clearing where they finally confront the truth.

In awe, they witness a flying saucer hovering nearby, which reunites with a massive mothership. The surrounding wind picks up, swirling violently around them. Meanwhile, the crowd at the basketball game disperses, oblivious to the disappearance of Everett, Fay, and Maddie, leaving behind only their footprints and the eerie tape recorder.