Deriving its visceral scares not from grisly imagery but rather psychological eeriness — like a knock on the door in the early morning hours or a disembodied whisper that raises the hairs on the back of your neck — director Kourosh Ahari’s consistently terrifying new feature “The Night” follows an Iranian couple wrestling with unresolved marital conflicts in the U.S.
Marking his debut in an American production, actor Shahab Hosseini (“A Separation,” “The Salesman”) plays obstinate husband and father Babak. As he drives home with his wife, Neda (Niousha Jafarian), and their infant daughter following an evening with friends, a pulsating toothache immobilizes him. Inexplicable occurrences soon lead them to check into an empty old hotel where supernatural torment ensues.