In the summer of ’76, as President Jimmy Carter pledges to give government back to the people, tensions run high in a working-class Philadelphia neighborhood where the Black Panthers once flourished. When Marcus returns—having bolted years earlier—his homecoming isn’t exactly met with fanfare. His former movement brothers blame him for an unspeakable betrayal. Only his best friend’s widow, Patricia, appreciates Marcus’s predicament, which both unites and paralyzes them. As Patricia’s daughter compels the two comrades to confront their past, history repeats itself in dangerous ways.
　　Night Catches Us masterfully reckons with the complexity of its characters’ revolutionary ideologies and internal desires. Bell-bottoms, Afros, potlucks, and Caddies set the scene as the film potently interweaves political media with an evocative soul-inspired score, summoning a vivid sense of place and time. The golden light that bathes characters’ faces seems to express the promise—and elusiveness—of the necessary change Marcus and Patricia struggle for so dearly—each by separate means.

　　本片根据Ken Bruen同名小说改编，由威廉姆•莫纳汉亲自改编剧本。
　　米切尔（柯林·法瑞尔 Colin Farrell 饰）以前是个混迹在街头的痞子，蹲了几年牢被释放后决定重新做人，但却一直找不到工作。以前的那些朋友给他提供了一个替给放高利贷的金主收钱的工作，无可奈何的他只能接受。但不久后，他被一个不愿意抛头露面的女明星艾思林（凯拉·奈特莉 Keira Knightley）雇佣。艾思林不堪小报记者和狗仔队的困扰，雇佣了米切尔来给自己“清除麻烦”。当艾思林渐渐了解切米尔的为人，两人坠入了爱河。就在米切尔憧憬未来的时候，他的过去找上了门来。街头的那些违法犯罪的事情一直跟随着他。不幸的是，米切尔发现自己又莫名其妙地卷入了黑帮的矛盾中，这些矛盾直接威胁着他现在的生活，他能安然度过这些烦恼的事情并和艾思林生活在一起么？

　　林莎（艾斯黛拉·沃伦 Estella Warren 饰）是典型的新时代女性，独立自强，向往自由的生活。林莎和名为马克思（大卫·艾根伯格 David Eigenberg 饰）的男子交往多年，然而，对婚姻的恐惧和踌躇令两人的关系停滞不前，令林莎感到非常苦恼。
　　林莎决定和马克思开始一段冷静期。期间，她积极的参加联谊活动，结识新人，就此认识了A.J（贾斯汀·柯克 Justin Kirk 饰），两人无论在兴趣还是思想上都格外合拍，彼此之间生出了相见恨晚的感情。随着时间的推移，林莎对于婚姻的认识渐渐成熟和完备起来，她决定回到马克思的身边，然而，就在此时林莎发现，自己无法忘记和AJ一起度过的快乐时光。