Enjoying its world premiere at Fantastic Fest, director and writer Luka Marčetić makes his second directorial debut with Girl In The Night after smashing Slovenian box-office records with his first film, At Hostar.
This time, we follow a bored petrol station worker, Rok (Urban Kuntarič), who one night meets Iza (Lara Wolf), a self-proclaimed vigilante who roams the city in search of people’s missing items. After he steals her bike, Rok joins Iza on her adventures to find out who did it in a bid to be closer to her and form a bond. From there, they delve into a world where boredom and a detachment from reality are the scariest things they come across.
The comedy in this is incredibly subtle and deadpan, but this is what adds to the overall message Marčetić wanted to achieve. It’s on the surface mundane and almost singular in tone throughout, but that in turn brings a great sense of society’s everyday life. We work boring, unfulfilling jobs; we come home, watch TV; we no longer have any joy in our hobbies and acts of violence (or promises of) no longer shock us. This is all sprinkled throughout Girl In The Night as we meet the various characters on Rok and Iza’s escapades.
It brings an almost awkward and uncomfortable laugh in parts, but when stripped back it is there is something relatable there. For good comedy to work, there needs to be a solid cast and Girl In The Night has that. Shining through, however, is Kuntarič and his expert delivery of one-liners and his ability to win over his audience from the very start.
As the title suggests, this film is set at night, and in turn this gives cinematographer Lev Predan Kowarski lots to play with. Each shot feels as though it is framed with purpose; there are many moments of stillness, which work so beautifully with the dark colours of the city and the moments throughout that are quiet and sometimes tense.
The ending is where it starts to lose its way a bit; it takes a direction that strangely feels left field and, in many ways, is disappointing after the journey you go on with our two main characters; it feels as though they both deserved more. That being said, however, it is a funny and melancholy comedy that tries to steer away from any form of laugh-out-loud slapstick comedy and keep it as deadpan as can be, which may not work for many people.
Girl In The Night had its world premiere at Fantastic Fest 2026 on Sunday, September 20
