Beatrice Gibson Questions Motherhood and Womanhood in Her Debut Feature ‘At Night’

This quote by the poet Alice Notley opens “At Night,” British filmmaker Beatrice Gibson’s feature debut, which held its world premiere on Aug. 8 in Locarno’s Filmmakers of the Present program. It mattered to Gibson to depict women facing what would conventionally be termed a “midlife crisis,” but which Gibson prefers to call “midlife revelation.” The women in “At Night” experience motherhood in various ways, whether reveling in it, dodging it, or even grieving its loss. “[The women] are escaping in this non-compliant, non-conformist way,” Gibson explains. Through these distinct lives and their collective weight, “At Night” treats womanhood and motherhood not as fixed destinations, but as living, ongoing questions.