Tomorrow Night

Director: Louis C.K.
Screenwriters: Louis C.K.

Institute History

  • 1998 Sundance Film Festival

Description

So subtly outlandish is this film that you can’t blink an eye or you may not believe what you just saw. Louis C.K., a successful comedian and television writer whose short film Ice Cream screened at Sundance in 1994, has made a hilarious and very dark first feature.

Tomorrow Night chronicles the loneliness of photo-shop owner Charles, an acerbic, repressed man with an unquenchable “taste” for ice cream. His energetic and overly cheerful postman Mel convinces him that what he really needs is womanly companionship. On the other side of town is Florence, a lonely old woman with a mean, vociferous husband. When Florence isn’t being tortured by her husband, she pines away for Billy, her son in the army who hasn’t written in twenty years and who makes Gomer Pyle look like Einstein. To top it off, the only friend Florence has is Tina, a sweet yet crude and scruffy young man who dresses in old-lady drag. Tina convinces Florence that maybe she needs a little extracurricular spice in her life. Enter Charles, who gets off on the thought of a clean and orderly household, and you have a match made in heaven. From there, things get even weirder.

Great black-and-white cinematography and an eclectic score give this film a genuinely disturbing, old-fashioned feel. Louis C.K. does an outstanding job of eliciting subtle performances from the actors. In your wildest dreams, you could not have imagined such bizarre characters together in one film.

Louis C.K., Director
Louis C.K. is a stand-up comedian, television writer, and filmmaker who lives in New York City. He has written and produced several TV shows, including “The Chris Rock Show,” “Late Show with David Letterman,” and “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” and made many network appearances as a stand-up comedian. He has also made several short films, including Ice Cream, which screened at Sundance in 1994 and went on to win numerous awards. Tomorrow Night is his first feature film.

— Mary Kerr

Screening Details

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