The sun, once a symbol of life and warmth, becomes an unrelenting force of death in Into the Night, Jason George’s Belgian apocalyptic thriller that premiered on Netflix in 2020. The series opens with passengers aboard a Brussels-bound flight scrambling for survival as sunlight turns lethal overnight. It’s a premise ripe with tension, one that demands relentless pacing and inventive problem-solving—qualities Into the Night occasionally delivers but too often abandons.

The first season’s strength lies in its claustrophobic setting. Confined to an airplane hurtling westward to outrun daylight, the survivors—led by pilot Mathieu (Laurent Capelluto) and former military helicopter pilot Sylvie (Pauline Étienne)—must confront fuel shortages, irradiated food, and the psychological toll of their predicament. The initial episodes thrill with suspense, particularly in sequences where the plane must navigate treacherous skies while avoiding sunlight. Étienne’s Sylvie is a standout: her character arc from reluctant survivor to decisive leader is compelling, anchored by Étienne’s sharp, no-nonsense performance.

Yet Into the Night stumbles when it strays from its core strengths. The second season, set in a NATO bunker in Bulgaria, sacrifices the tight confines of the airplane for broader but less engaging conflicts over resources and leadership. While the ensemble cast remains strong—Laurent Capelluto’s Mathieu and Mehmet Kurtuluş’s Ayaz provide emotional depth—the shift to a more conventional survival drama dulls the series’ edge.

The soundtrack, however, is consistently excellent. The original score amplifies tension with its eerie, pulse-quickening beats, a rare instance where the audio elevates the material beyond its limitations.

What falters most is the pacing. Early episodes brim with urgency, but later instalments drag as the story expands to include bureaucratic infighting and moral dilemmas that feel like filler rather than necessity. The second season’s focus on political maneuvering within the bunker, while thematically relevant, lacks the visceral thrill of the first season’s survivalist stakes.

Into the Night is at its best when it embraces the “now whatta we gonna do?” energy of classic disaster films. The plane sequences are masterclasses in tension, with clever twists and morally ambiguous choices driving the narrative forward.