it's finally getting to us -- meaning?

Question

From the movie The Sacrament:

Well, it's officially 5:00. So much for the greatest night's sleep of our lives. Tried to go to sleep about an hour ago. Whatever they're doing in the pavilion seems to have stopped, so it's finally quiet. Ugh. Neither of us could sleep. It's a weird night. Looks like it's finally getting to us. Well, I'm actually really scared. It's the most scared I've been in a long time. Ready to go home.

There are two problems I have in this excerpt. First of all, what does it's finally getting to us mean exactly? Is he talking about the weird night that's finally getting to them, like, it's starting to give them a hard time?

And my second question is about the grammar of the second sentence in a bold font. What he's saying there means it's the instance where he has been scared the most in his life and that he hasn't been so scared in a long time? Is that a correct understanding?

Answer 1

It's hard to say for sure, but I think what is "getting" to the speaker and his partner is the lack of sleep. In any case, the phrase "it's getting to me" is often used in a very general sense; it could just mean "all of these circumstances are wearing us down."

Most _____ I've been in a long time simply means: There have been times where I've felt _____ before, and this has been one of the strongest in recent memory. It could be said of fear; it could be said of hunger or elation:

This is the hungriest I've been in a long time.

This is the happiest I've felt in a long time.

When this expression is used, the speaker isn't usually thinking about other specific instances. It's merely a figure of speech saying that the feelings are particularly strong or intense.