The supernatural, a beloved, yet mysterious horror film director, and the suicide of a young woman all conspire to plague journalist Scott McGrath in Marisha Pessl's recently released book Night Film (Random House). Even though McGrath considers himself a skeptic, he is drawn into the world of the bizarre because of his infatuation over the alleged suicide of Ashley Cordova, a world renowned pianist and the daughter of Stanislas Cordova, a director famous for his cutting edge and frighteningly real horror films. McGrath, who has a sordid history with Cordova, due to a controversial remark that he made about the director during a television interview, finds himself once again thrust into Cordova's secretive world where anything appears to be possible.
Scott does have some help along the way, though, courtesy of two younger strangers; Nora, a poor young woman with a sad history and Hopper, a troubled man with a drug problem who was once in love with Ashley. They essentially insinuate themselves into McGrath's life, but soon become integral to his investigation. Nora helps to keep him grounded, while Hopper is able to provide essential information about Ashley and is not afraid to sacrifice himself to learn the truth about her demise. McGrath needs all the help he can get in his long, dangerous and sometimes otherworldly quest for the truth.
McGrath revisits all of Cordova's films looking for clues and sets out to interview an eclectic and eccentric group of individuals associated with the director, including actors who appeared in his films, as well as former employees. Making the investigation more difficult is Cordova's reach and influence, as well as his employee Inez Gallo, whose loyalty is beyond reproach and who seems capable of successfully dealing with any problem. Even though McGrath appears to realize the gravity of his situation, he is not prepared for the personal losses that he suffers throughout his investigation. Eventually, Scott, Nora and Hopper plan to infiltrate Cordova's home known as "The Peak," but since the director is rarely seen and his whereabouts are not actually known, they face an ongoing uncertain venture into his mysterious and dangerous world.
Scott McGrath is not an easy character to like. He appears selfish, reckless and, at times, not too smart. He seems bent on settling the score with Cordova over something that he himself started years earlier during the aforementioned botched interview that gathered much attention. In addition, even though Scott appears to love his young daughter, Sam, he places her in needless danger while researching Cordova, which may result in loss of custody and visitation, since he is divorced from her mother, Cynthia. However, Scott is determined, works hard and seems to genuinely grow to care for both Nora and Hopper. He is convinced that Cordova is the bad guy and readers may feel the same way. His heart is in the right place, but his emotional decisions cause him, and those around him, much grief.
I enjoyed the supernatural aspects of Night Film, as well as Scott's transformation from skeptic to somewhat of a believer. While some of the bizarre occurrences are explained, other are not, so it is up to the reader to decide what is happening. In addition, I appreciated the multimedia pages depicting newspaper clippings, Internet web pages and photos that appear throughout the book and serve as representations of the materials that Scott collects during his investigation. Night Film is the first novel I have read to incorporate such an idea, so I found it be original and interesting.
At nearly 600 pages, Night Film is daunting, but the pace is quick and most of the characters are fully realized. I do think that perhaps too many characters are introduced and it is challenging to remember all of them, especially when they are referred to in later chapters. Regardless, I was captivated by the story and with Scott's journey, which would never have come full circle if he had given up at any time during his sometimes harrowing investigation. While McGrath may not always be likable, he is persistent and worth rooting for in this mammoth mind bending adventure.
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