Midlands Review of Night at Nelsons
midlandsmovies • November 28, 2020
Night at Nelson’s
Directed by Luke Willis
2020
A suitable 1930/40s art-deco font opens a new film written and directed by first-time filmmaker Luke Willis in Night at Nelson’s.
Filmed entirely inside Arkwright Studios in Nottingham the era-appropriate opening is followed by an old-timey news report describing a jewel heist by a bunch of thugs.
Night at Nelson’s sets up time and place excellently before we jump into the black and white film which follows a detective assigned to help solve this criminal case.
The first scene starts with a well-costumed American cop against a period automobile as we are introduced to a tale of foul play on the streets of the city. Straight away, we see that the genre staples are all present – the hard-nosed, hard-drinking detective, suitable low-key lighting and the shadows of venetian blinds.
The rear-projection car scene is also spot-on and although the American accents are a little shaky at times, the excellent mood and atmosphere continues with a well-observed take on the detective voice-over of the past.
The director’s knowledge of the visual style of film noir is clearly evident. With a dash of the modern creeping in at times too – the obvious parallel is Frank Miller’s Sin City – our detective (played by Willis himself) chases up informants in dark alleys and we see beaten men in seedy gambling dens.
As the story unfolds, the superb rat-looking mob member (Baz Keane) has the air, and similar make-up, of a Dick Tracy villain and we get a smattering of action as the detective throws a knuckle-sandwich or two towards the short’s conclusion.
The director throws everything into a packed 8-minutes with a flurry of ideas including murderous conspiracies, con games and even a sultry femme fatale (Chloe Martin). With so much in so little time, the short really does a tremendous job with its over-flowing story, which is delivered with a “lot of moxie” as they say.
And kudos to director of photography Louis Brough. His cinematic lighting capturing the stark dark/light contrasts and dramatic shadows are a joy throughout.
In the end, Night at Nelson’s is a well-executed homage to the gangster era of the past and will certainly ‘bust your chops’ with its first-rate style and atmosphere, all wrapped up in an excellent sleazy noir short.
Michael Sales
Nominated for Best Writing at the 2026 Midlands Movies Awards, Present Company Excluded is a very much dialogue based drama involving two ‘old friends’ catching up at a diner.
Another bold Made at Curve production, The Silence of the Lambs is a new theatre drama based on Thomas Harris’s acclaimed novel, itself turned into the Oscar-winning film of the same name.
For those in the cheap seats. I did not like Ice Cream Man. It is a lazy, nonsensical mess.
An exciting new Midlands project is soon to be released in the form of Wildboy; Origins. This new film is a post-apocalyptic action-thriller and tells the story of a young family whose lives are turned upside down by three trophy hunters that have trespassed into their terrain.