I nearly enjoyed this movie until the very end for what it was-a TV movie on a late Friday night on Lifetime Movies. Great performances all around, and Elijah Wood a standout. I love JoBeth Williams and Tom Skerritt in these type of roles in general.

Then the ending came. It was so far out there that it ruined the entire film for me. Considering how suspenseful it had been until now, that says a lot about the ending. It just appeared fake.

The only way to describe the weird ending is that it seems the CryptKeeper suddenly appears and does his thing to this normal cast. If you see it, you will understand what I mean.

"Captain Hook killed my father"!

And slept with his mum. And yes we get visualisation of it too. No, seriously. This also includes the kid's traumatised face.

The cast of 'Child in the Night' are the drawcard attraction. Although no lie, the poster artwork had my mouth watering until I found out it was made for TV. So my expectations dipped and rightfully so. A young boy (Elijah Wood) witnesses his father murdered by a man with a cargo hook in a yellow slicker, and develops post traumatic stress where he begins to fictionalise the events in a way to cope with the ordeal, hindering detectives. Lead detective pairs up with a former child psychologist fighting her own demons.

One-note police procedural story and script with tv boundaries, given potency by reliable JoBeth Williams & Tom Skerritt performances. The dynamic between the two with their flirtatious frictions was definitely more interesting than the on-going investigation. No wonder because half of the film is spent on their interactions. As the investigative side of the story hardly comes out first gear. The languid questioning of possible leads, the usual suspects and festering inner circle dramas, which could lead to murder. Severely melodramatic and foreseeable in its soap-like writing. The urgency or threat is lacking throughout with one moment standing out in the entire film involving the killer still in the room cleaning the murder weapon in the bathroom unbeknown to them someone nearby is watching. Alas the build-up doesn't payoff though... but again what do you expect from a TV movie. Intercutting the narrative was a novelty element where the real life incidents were parallels to a children's story; Peter Pan. Those fictionalised scenes of Captain Hook and Wood seeing himself as Peter Pan in an attempt the suppress the horrific memory of his father's murder had a goofy charm, which mildly amused. The story probably could have done without these images, and just played on the child's verbal expressions of what he saw from the viewpoint of a kid's story... but this script wanted nothing subtle.

Disappointingly for some reason the YouTube channel I was watching cuts the film right after it reveals the killer, and his crackpot speech... to start at the beginning again. So you miss the last 5 minutes, which is probably the most livelier part of the film.

The eight year-old boy Luke (Elijah Wood) goes with his father to his company and witnesses his murder by a man with a hook. Detective T. Bass (Tom Skerritt) is in charge of the investigation and summons Dr. Hollis (JoBeth Williams) to help him assisting the boy trying to get the identity of the killer. However, the boy fantasizes the murderer as the Captain Hook, in a escapism from the traumatic reality. Dr. Hollis gets closes to Luke and has an affair with Bass while he investigates the crime. They find that Luke's family is dysfunctional and there is a dispute among the friends of his father. But soon the killer attacks again and there are many suspects. Who might be the killer?

The suspenseful "A Child in the Night" is a good thriller supported by a great cast. JoBeth Williams, Tom Skerritt and Elijah Wood in his debut have great performances. The plot holds the attention of the view but the conclusion is disappointing. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Testemunha Silenciosa" ("Silent Witness")

Note: On 8 December 2016, I saw this film again.