The Post-Truth Era and Monstrous Ambiguity in It Comes at Night (2017), The Invitation (2015), and The Gift (2015)

After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the dichotomy separating “good versus evil” was reinstated as justification for war efforts. Yet, contradictorily, some terrorist countries reversed the agents of good and evil. In this scenario, America is imagined as both soldier for freedom and global oppressor, depending on who is looking and from which ideological standpoint. Donald Trump’s presidency added fuel to the fire, uneasily mixing a Manichean logic of “us vs them” with the “fake news” scenario. In this scenario, horror films accommodate their narratives to illustrate stories where the horror comes from the uncertainty of the political climate. Films such as The Gift (Joel Edgerton 2015), The Invitation (Karyn Kusama 2015), and It Comes at Night (Trey Edward Shults 2017) play with expectations to warn audiences about the post-truth era which privileges uncertainties. These “post-truth” films blur the divide separating “them” from “us,” projecting mental and political landscapes where the horror is born not from a localized monster but from the shift of perspectives.