Alien Intervention

This is an entertaining and very warmly crafted sci-fi indie drama where character and motivation rule the day, rather than elaborate special effects. It's both a "woman's picture" and also something very universal, with excellent performances and resonant dialogue that delivers on its themes without being show-offy about any aspect of the production. The performances are all very strong, with Gregory Jbara really nailing his colorful supporting role. The film also benefits from some casually stylish imagery, which pains a nice portrait, yet never calls overt attention to itself. We need more films like this one.

Based on the title and the poster art, I expected something more like that film "contact" where it's firmly rooted in sci fi. But really I thought this was more a movie like "the station agent" where it's a thoughtful character study that explores the human condition and our quest for purpose and meaning. Honestly I'd of given this a higher score, but I was struggling with the tone and story for the first 20 min for the above stated reasons of title and poster art.

But overall, I really enjoyed this and found the message relevant and moving and quite liked the journey the main character takes.

Would definitely recommend.

I'll lead off by saying I liked the movie a lot. It was intelligent, well acted and the camera work was incredible. Where it kinda lost me was with some of the story ideas that to me just didn't work. Firstly, it was strange that the main character was Japanese American "Sanada", and her father was clearly either from Japan or 2nd generation, and the mother was white. This alone is certainly not a big deal, but I wanted it explained because it's unusual to have that type of family in the New Mexico desert. So to just have that be a thing without offering any insight just seemed off. I also found the story that the govt. Agent broke the alien out of a top secret base to be laughable. Come on, really? Just lazy writing. The rest of the story was so thoughtful and well written that whoever wrote this thing could've done better, but I guess chose to give up in regards to this aspect.

Sat down and watched with my husband not expecting much but after five minutes we both looked at one another saying 'wow this is actually pretty good.' And the ending did not disappoint. It honestly made me wonder what comes next in this story as it suggests a new beginning for the main character full of possibilities.

Loved the mom character. Reminds me of my own. And the husband was actually sympathetic which is funny because I was prepared to not like him. There are a few swear words but this is definitely a family friendly film.

The camera work was absolutely gorgeous in this film. A few desert shots were just awe inspiring.

I get a lot of screeners and included in that bundle are releases from Vision Films. Admittedly I don't watch about 98% of them because the movies are just not great for a variety of reasons, and the ones I do decide to start I turn off after five minutes for the exact same reasons. This one I decided to give a try, and while I found there were definitely things wrong with it, I not only managed to sit through the entire thing, but I found the end message compelling. It's a well directed, well acted film that takes its time revealing the story, which usually is a killer because it means the writer is trying to work up to a big reveal. But in this one, it was more like the story took it's time because the director was totally committed to the premise and vision, something you don't see everyday, especially with films on an ultra low budget. With a name in the cast, I could've seen this film doing a lot more. A pity...