The Netflix Drama “Night Always Comes” Takes Place in a Rarely Seen Location: Reality

Were it not for a quirk of perspective, “Night Always Comes” would be a standard, if well-acted, crime thriller. A desperate but good-hearted woman finds herself in need of lots of money; she lies, cheats and steals to get it over the course of a violent night.

Perfectly serviceable, if not at all novel, stuff. But it’s the setting of this film, based on a book of the same name by Willy Vlautin, that makes it distinct: “Night Always Comes” is set right now, in a rapidly gentrifying Portland.

That may not seem like a remarkable choice; plenty of films are modern. But, at least recently, most mainstream American films — particularly in the crime genre — ignore the nation’s current economic reality. Lynette (Vanessa Kirby), the deeply flawed protagonist of “Night Always Comes,” needs the mo