Synopsis
Inside a shabby Eastern European hotel, Foals perform "Late Night" in a dim cabaret bar while separate rooms reveal the extremes of human existence. A couple engage in frantic intimacy, a woman endures a brutal childbirth, and a lonely man reaches a fatal breaking point. The parallel stories unfold with little relief, creating a compressed cycle of desire, pain, birth, and death. Yannis Philippakis appears amid the action, adding to the video's feverish, unsettling atmosphere.
Factoids & Trivia
- The video was filmed in Bucharest, Romania, and released on March 11, 2013, ahead of "Late Night"'s April 22 single release.
- Its central structure places the band in a hotel bar while birth, sex, and suicide occur in rooms nearby, presenting several major life experiences as simultaneous events.
- The shoot nearly became genuinely dangerous. Guitarist Jimmy Smith said the actor in the hanging scene accidentally put himself in real danger before the crew realized what was happening.
- The video carries strong adult-content warnings because of its nudity, sexual imagery, childbirth, violence, and suicide themes.
- The production credits list Matyas Erdely as director of photography, Isaac Hagy as editor, Carmen Dima as production designer, and The Mill London for post-production.
- At the 2013 UK Music Video Awards, "Late Night" won Best Colour Grade in a Video, with Aubrey Woodiwiss credited as colorist.