The Sunlit Night

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2:45

The Sunlit Night

2020

1h 49m

Romance

Comedy

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

31%

Tomatometer

58 Reviews

64%

Popcornmeter

50+ Ratings

An aspiring painter meets eccentric locals and a fellow New Yorker while working on a barn in Norway.

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Critics Consensus

Jenny Slate remains as charming as ever, but her winsome performance isn't enough to overcome The Sunlit Night's grating tone and meandering plot.

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Alissa Wilkinson

Vox

There's enough charm and whimsy for the story to escape coming across as too predictable... The Sunlit Night is a light and occasionally messy story of discovery, and Slate's performance anchors it all.

Aug 4, 2020

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Kristy Puchko

Crooked Marquee

The Sunlit Night is a ponderous, pretentious dud

Jul 24, 2020

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Chris Hewitt

Minneapolis Star Tribune

I can easily imagine people who wouldn't like it, but there is something beautiful about how perfectly it locates a feeling of confusion, ambivalence and grief.

Rated: 3.5/4

Jul 23, 2020

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Daisy Leigh-Phippard

Screen Queens

Too many threads tangle together without forming a pattern, and while there are flickers of feeling scattered through, its a shame that these lovely fragments of life never make up a whole.

Feb 21, 2022

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Deborah Krieger

Bust Magazine

It does feature an appealing lead performance from Slate, and is earnest and honest in its largely successful attempt to translate creative thinking onto the screen in equally creative ways.

Jul 2, 2021

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Susan Kamyab

This Chix Flix

Slate does a fantastic job with the material she is given and the scenery is beautiful, but the "The Sunlit Night" fails to shine. It's a dim, dull tale.

Rated: F

Jun 24, 2021

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Michael B

I can’t believe how poorly this was rated. I watched in mid 2025. It is a sweet, somewhat formulaic film, but I liked it. It is a sweet message about art, and life, and family, and complexity. It has a handful of beautiful moments. It leaves a lot unanswered. I really enjoyed it.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

08/15/25

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Alan R.

Much better than indicated the rating. This is an excellent movie, full of life and subtlety as well as beautiful images and great acting. Just don’t expect an obvious linear plot which this movie does not have. It’s much better than that.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/13/25

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Reagan R

The best way to appreciate art is to absorb it and see if it moves you. This movie moved me

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

07/25/25

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Barbie M

I was surprised to see the low rating here. It didn’t seem justified. The one critique I would give it: the nudity was a distraction from the beauty of the film, for me, it felt exploitive, then garish, then off-topic. Otherwise the film was visually compelling, uncluttered, original, curious, comical, tender, of course artful, and ultimately very satisfying. It was directly and subtly about making something glorious, why it’s worth it, and where the drive comes from—this is so hopeful—and why I watch movies, to see a little divinity inside an experience that resonates, even if the details have little to do with my own experiences, yet are woven with familiar threads, the ridiculous, the heartbreaking, the miraculous, a desire for things to be whole, to be refined, to be joyfully hopeful, to snatch us out of darkness.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/21/25

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Erin M

This was a very nice surprise! Came for Jenny Slate and Jessica Hecht, stayed for the unique story, nice performance by Alex Sharp and sweet statements about family and art. I wonder about the "critics" sometimes.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/10/24

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K B

I absolutely loved this movie. What a wonderful combination of life in this movie!!!!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/04/24

Full Review

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David Wnendt

Director

Jenny Slate

Frances

Zach Galifianakis

Haldor

Alex Sharp

Yasha

Gillian Anderson

Olyana

Dan Puck

Robert

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The Sunlit Night: Trailer 1

2:45

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Synopsis

An aspiring painter meets eccentric locals and a fellow New Yorker while working on a barn in Norway.

Director: David Wnendt
Producer: Michael B. Clark, Rebecca Dinerstein, Fabian Gasmia, Jenny Slate, Gabrielle Nadig, Ruben Thorkildsen, Alex Turtletaub
Screenwriter: Rebecca Dinerstein
Distributor: Quiver Distribution
Production Co: Detailfilm, Ape&Bjørn AS
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 17, 2020, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 17, 2020
Runtime: 1h 49m

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