Aliens Abducted My Parents and Now I Feel Kinda Left Out

Audience: Family

Rating (in my opinion): PG

This film delighted my family and I. The story and performances are adorable. Justin (Calvin) and Emma (Itsy) drew me in and gave solid performances. Well done you two. I found the main family to be endearing.

It made me laugh, cry a bit, and laugh some more. Funny, cute, and touching. My family was very entertained and kept guessing as to how it would end.

A lower budget film, but I didn't mind because I enjoyed the story and characters enough not to care.

Also, we recognized some areas in our home state of Utah. And recognized some familiar faces as well. Loved that.

Overall, I loved finding a wholesome family show we could all enjoy together. (Online viewing during Sundance Film Festival 2023). It's full of charm, innocent fun, and a bit of heart. I'm a fan. Watching it together with my family created a good memory for us.

The actors do the best they can with the poorly written dialogue and improbable disjointed plot.

The production values are surprisingly good.

Overall, most scenes are cringeworthy at best, with story development that seems full of missing parts.

Two main actors fall for each other but the moments that you would expect to see to understand this process are missing.

The protagonist who suffers from PTSD is treated like a one dimensional character something most of the characters have.

It was painful to watch this movie. If it could be re-edited with missing critical scenes added, it might improve dramatically.

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 thought it was good. The acting, even from the lesser characters, was excellent - possibly partly the director having the skill to get good performances? Anyway, the direction was smooth and totally unclunky. You hardly noticed it, which is how it should be. You felt in safe hands the whole way, not having to worry when the next jarring misjudgement was coming.

The two leads were eye-poppingly perfect, not just in the main body of a scene, but also in the little side glances, the momentary expressions, that create realism.

The little brother was very good and believable, as were the parents - true-to-life, funny, loving and there when it counted. The nasty girl at school, and the lost father and mother, also couldn't be faulted.

Some moments could have been, and in some other films would have been, poorly done and disappointing, but here it was all carried through with clear-sighted aplomb. There were no bum notes.

Highly recommended.

If you've seen The Room (or The Disaster Artist), you'll understand why this movie is funny. It resembles a real movie just enough to be taken seriously, which adds to the humor of it. I watched it late at night with the whole family. We didn't know what we were getting into and just kept watching like it was a slow moving car accident happening on the front lawn. We turned into the Mystery Science theater audience. I was at times groaning in pain it was so bad but couldn't stop watching, and by the end... omg. I was reminded of the Furlings in episode 200 of Stargate SG1. I recommend watching with friends when you're too tired to think critically.