Aliens abducted my parents and now I feel kinda left out

Yes of course it was the title that stirred my curiosity. And I'm so glad it did! I enjoyed this film (yes I'm British) from beginning to end. Well, not quite. At the start I was determined not to like the daughter (Emma Tremblay); but by the end I realised she had to start off like that, the result of a good script and sensitive direction.

And that goes for all the characters. They come across as real, and have a good character arc. The film does well to keep what it needs to until near the end. I doubt you'll guess the truth about Calvin (the very talented and handsome Jacob Buster)!

No spectacular special FX, a script like this doesn't need them.

This seems to be an overlooked little gem, and deserves to be better known. Enjoy it as that!

I had never heard about this 2023 movie titled "Aliens Abducted My Parents and Now I Feel Kinda Left Out" prior to stumbling upon it and opting to sit down and watch it. The movie's title is what drew me to pick up this movie, as it had a distinct comedy feel to it.

And having just sat through 87 sluggish minutes of watching "Aliens Abducted My Parents and Now I Feel Kinda Left Out", I must say that this was a disappointing movie. I had initially figured that it was a movie about alien abductions, given the movie's synopsis, but instead writer Austin Osanai Everett delivered a teenage drama wrapped up in an alien abduction veil. Yeah, this movie was definitely not something that tickled me the right places, and I found myself somewhat bored throughout the course of the teenage drama.

The movie is listed as a comedy, drama and sci-fi; well, the comedy is non-existing, and the sci-fi is stretching it quite a bit. So that leaves us with a drama, which was exactly what "Aliens Abducted My Parents and Now I Feel Kinda Left Out" turned out to be.

Of the entire cast ensemble, I was only familiar with Will Forte, and he was hardly even in the movie. However, it should be said that the acting performances by the entire cast ensemble was actually good.

Visually then you're not in for anything extraordinary, should you opt to sit down and watch "Aliens Abducted My Parents and Now I Feel Kinda Left Out". In fact, this is not a movie that I would recommend you waste your time, money or effort on, unless you are a teenager or young adult.

Having sat through 87 minutes of watching "Aliens Abducted My Parents and Now I Feel Kinda Left Out", I must say that I also feel kinda left out in terms of being properly entertained.

My rating of director Jake Van Wagoner's 2023 movie "Aliens Abducted My Parents and Now I Feel Kinda Left Out" lands on a three out of ten stars.

Saw this back at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.

Okay I get it, this is a children movie. Children movies are meant to be entertaining for young viewers to sit back and be in awe with something funny, fast paced and highly enjoyable. I understand. But "Aliens Abducted My Parents and Now I Feel Kinda Left Out" is one of the worst children films that I have seen.

The film suffers from a lack of charm as the characters, setting, and environment doesn't offer much to make the story creative or interesting in the slightest. The main story feels like it would work perfectly for Television either on Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon but the way it was written and it's direction doesn't make things better and very sloppy. Many of the performances were not good and the actors were trying their best but they seem to really struggle on trying their best. Most of the humor felt stale and the dialogue moments were really poor and felt forced as if the film was trying it's hardest to be in the TikTok eras. The special effects and costumes were poor as if they looked like something you would seeing from the early 2000s, the soundtrack was annoying, and the direction was all over the place.

Most of the characters were really uninteresting and if I had seen this a child, I may have been invested with them. I saw this online and I allowed my young siblings to see it since they enjoy watching science fiction stories. While he did enjoy some moments, he didn't seem to be able to fully grasp the film and did almost fall asleep halfway. That's really saying something. At the end, this is mainly for children and I understand this isn't a film for my demographic. I am sure many children might enjoy this film as there are characters and scenes they would like. But honestly, this was really really bad.

Rating: F.

"Aliens Abducted My Parents and I Feel Kinda Left Out" is a disappointing and poorly written kids movie that fails to deliver on all fronts. The story is predictable and lacks depth, with characters that are one-dimensional and uninteresting. The humor falls flat; not funny enough for adults but tried way too hard to be TikTok relevant for kids to grasp. The dialogue is stilted and unrealistic, adding to the overall sense of disconnection. The pacing is sluggish and fails to build any real tension or suspense. This movie is a forgettable and unsatisfying that is best left un-watched. Save your and your kids time.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film, not expecting the gut-punch it provided. The two leads, Jacob Buster as Calvin and Emma Tremblay as Itsy, provided outstanding performances. They were adorable, even though they both played outcasts. (Lesson: It's okay to be different. You don't have to change so you can belong to a certain group.)

It was a movie of laughs and tears, a movie for the entire family. It had the annoying little brother with his uncool antics as well as the parents who were deemed uncool by Itsy. There was the typical high school politics with the mean girl and the lone boy who was ridiculed. It was heart-warming to see the two main characters evolve.

I'm anxiously awaiting distribution of this entertaining film so I can see it again.