Manhattan Night

Plot

The story is narrated in the first person by Porter Wren, a columnist / crime reporter for a New York City newspaper. He is a popular journalist and his stories are widely read. Wren knows how to listen to people and there are people who just need to talk, especially to him. He attends an after work party hosted by the publishing magnate Hobbs where, for the first time, he meets Caroline Crowley.

Mrs Crowley was recently widowed by the mysterious murder of her husband, Simon Crowley. Crowley was a brilliant movie director who would often just disappear at night to videotape stuff. Crowley's body was discovered in a sealed off building that was about to be demolished. No one could figure out how the body got there.

Caroline invites Porter to her apartment where she shows him confidential police reports related to the death of her husband. She wants Porter to investigate the murder and as an incentive seduces him even though he is married and has children.

Caroline's husband Simon kept footage of many things, including something that Porter believes is very valuable to Mr. Hobbs, a media tycoon who just bought control of Porter's newspaper.

When Hobbs finds out that Porter is sniffing around for leads to his next article, Hobbs is soon making threats to Porter's family to convince him to find a memory card Hobbs is sure that Mrs Crowley is using to blackmail him. At the same time Caroline also says she is also looking for the same memory card but she could not find it in a case in which Simon used to keep his cards. She then asks Wren's help to find the card. She said Simon asked her to have sex with a stranger after she lost a game with him. It is the card which has those moments captured. Wren is disappointed to know that Caroline's relationship with him is just to find the card.

Wren goes to meet Simon's father who is at nursing home, but he does not say anything. Wren manages to find a video camera in Simon's father drawer and get a memory card. Upon watching it, it is not the card he is looking for. At the same time, Hobbs' gangsters shoot Wren's children which make his wife apprehensive about her family's safety and criticizes Wren. Meanwhile, Wren also finds out a clue from the memory card that an old lady, who seems to be a very close family member, always visits Simon's father. So he breaks into her house and finds other memory card, but the old lady catches him during the act. Wren somehow manages to explain himself and inquires about the relationship between Simon and the old lady. She is an innocent lady who just loved Simon as her son to get his financial support and followed his instructions for memory cards. Wren manages to get the card which Hobbs also wanted. After watching the video he gets to know that it is Hobbs whom Simon asked Caroline to have sex with and also Hobbs's other secrets. Then he gives the card to Hobbs. In return, Hobbs gives him a key which he said is related to Caroline Crowley.

Wren finds out that it is the key to the lock of the basement where Simon was found dead. He goes there again and talks to the neighbor and finds a way to get into the basement. There he finds a small camera hidden at the corner. He takes the memory card and watches it. There, he finds Simon took Caroline to the basement in an attempt to force her to tell him the secret between her and her stepfather which she revealed to Hobbs in the video. Caroline refuses to tell Simon so he chains her leg to the elevator and threatens her, saying that if she won't tell him, she will die in the old building which is being demolished the next morning. Simon also destroys a million dollar jade horse statue which Hobbs gave Caroline as a present to comfort her secret. While being dragged towards the elevator shaft, Caroline starts to tell the secret and manages to kill Simon when he comes near to listen. Then she escapes from the basement and lock the basement door.

After Wren watches the video, he accepts to meet Caroline for breakfast. Wren reveals that Simon kept the recording of the night he died and tells Caroline to stop lying. Caroline also tells him the secret between her and her stepfather. He gives her a copy memory card and he keeps the original one so that Caroline cannot disturb his wife and family. He then leaves.

Cast

Release

The film was released on May 20, 2016, by Lionsgate Premiere.

Critical response

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Manhattan Night has an approval rating of 33%, based on 18 reviews, with an average rating of 5/10. On Metacritic, the film has a score of 44 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".