After the Lethargy

The 2018 sci-fi movie "After the Lethargy" (aka "Alien Invasion") was, of course, a movie that I had never heard about prior to sitting down to watch it here in 2025. Truth be told, I harbored zero expectations to writer and director Marc Carreté's movie, but of course I opted to give it the benefit of the doubt. The movie's cover was actually interesting enough to make me stop up and take notice.

First of all, the movie had a better production value than I had initially anticipated. So it wasn't the ultra low budget garbage that I had prepared myself for watching, and that certainly counted for something.

The storyline in the movie was a scrambled affair that made very little coherent sense. And it was a struggle to keep feigning an interest in the mess that passed as being the movie's narrative.

I wonder where the movie was supposed to take place, as the license plate on the police car reads "Republic of Somewhere". I kid you not.

Needless to say that I wasn't familiar with a single actor or actress on the cast list, and the acting performances were actually fair.

The CGI animated alien was pretty atrocious to look at. And it just ruined the movie, as it looked like something from a 1990s computer game that was discarded for being too fake even back then. A movie about aliens and alien abductions needs to have proper special effects, and "After the Lethargy" just didn't have that, and it worked against the overall enjoyment of the movie.

My rating of writer and director Marc Carreté's 2018 movie lands on a very, very generous two out of ten stars.

What I fundamentally don't understand is: A film costs money. Even if it's a low-budget film, and especially then, I think everyone is interested in making the most of the little money they have.

And a film production doesn't just consist of the director. There are many other professionals from the film industry at work. And I don't believe in the saying that too many cooks spoil the broth. There are ALWAYS many chefs working in a star kitchen and the food is pretty good. Maybe not everyone likes it, but you see a certain structure, you see professionalism and: you can eat it.

The most interesting thing about this film was the DVD menu. Then the film starts and you ask yourself: Who is going to eat this? And so it continues. If you lack a sense of dialogue and narrative structure, can't identify capable actors or create clichéd scenes, then why do you want to make a film? What is the motivation? And as a producer, do I just want to get rid of money or do I want the film to sell? Can't the producer say something about that? The first five minutes are enough to immediately change the director or script.

I have been working in the film and television sector for years and am familiar with some constraints and unfavorable conditions, but even the films made by the trainees (not film students!) were more professional than this film. (Sorry, Mr. Carreté. But I invested money and time and the film is from 2018. I just expect a little more quality, for things that don't cost money.)

Who reads the script and thinks: This is what I'm spending my money on, the world needs to see this movie! - Please enlighten me.

The worst alien abduction movie ever! just absolutely boring. Save yourself the 1hr and 20 mins lol

I get the concept this film was going for but it's just too rough around the edges to be enjoyable. The two main actors actually did a reasonably good job, which is impressive considering what a poor foundation they were given to build on. The music was good in some areas too, however, the sound effects and CGI killed any real sense of immersion.

The writer/director should've pitched this concept to someone more capable of bringing it to life. He doesn't seem to know how to build dramatic tension or create empathy for the characters, both of which are rather necessary for a horror film. If I don't care about the characters and I'm not afraid for them, what's the point? And while there are a few interesting ideas present, they are heavily diluted by bland filler.

I'd only recommend watching this one if you're a massive sci-fi nerd, don't mind B-flicks, and have literally nothing else to do with your time.

Alien Invasion (2018) is a Spanish movie I recently watched on Tubi when I saw May would be it's last month available. The storyline focuses on a journalist who investigates a missing person at a water tower that appears to be an alien abduction. As she gets close enough to the circumstances to discover what happened and discovers it may not be an alien abduction and the aliens may not have gone anywhere. This movie is directed by Marc Carrete in his directorial debut and stars Joe Manjon (The Hustle), Lilliana Cabal (Red Lights) and Julius Cotter (Black Beach). The storyline for this is pretty funny and delivered in a non-serious manner that is cheesy and ridiculous at times. I did think the main Rangers voice was entertaining and Ed was a pretty good character. The CGI alien was absolutely awful. Like watching a video game character in a movie bad. The woman in the prison the main character runs into was also delivered so bad. Overall this movie was pretty bad and not really worth your time unless there's nothing else on and you want to watch something really, really bad. I'd score this a 3/10.