Night of the Comet lets two sisters navigate an emptied city with a mixture of alarm, competence and consumer delight. The apocalypse is frightening, but it also momentarily removes the adults who normally set the limits. Bright shopping spaces and pop music complicate the expected ruin and darkness of the genre. The strongest contrast is between the sisters' improvised bond and organized attempts to manage survival: institutions may possess equipment without possessing the humanity needed to use it well.