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"The Overnight"

HHH

U.S. Dramatic

Writer-director Patrick Brice masters the awkward first encounter in "The Overnight," a funny comedy of grown-up manners. Alex (Adam Scott) and Emily (Taylor Schilling), just arrived in L.A. with their young son, find another couple-with-child, Kurt (Jason Schwartzman) and Charlotte (Judith Godreche). Dinner turns to an overnight visit, and while the kids are upstairs asleep, Alex and Emily discover that their new friends are weirder than they thought. Brice and his strong cast ratchet the awkwardness and sexual tension to dizzying levels, creating hearty laughs out of the characters' — particularly Alex's — discomfort. The only problem is that the strangeness gets to such a high point that it's hard to come down without an unsatisfying conclusion.

- Sean P. Means

"The Overnight" is screening in the U.S. Dramatic competition of the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. It screens again: Saturday, 11:30 p.m., Prospector Square Theatre, Park City; Sunday, 9:15 p.m., The Grand Theatre, Salt Lake City; Wednesday, 6 p.m., Yarrow Hotel Theatre, Park City; Friday, Jan. 30, Sundance Screening Room, Sundance resort; Saturday, Jan. 31, 11:30 a.m., The MARC, Park City.