Beyond the Spectrum: Being Taken

In 1977 filmmaking impresario Steven Spielberg gave us "Close Encounters of the Third Kind". At the end of that movie the character played by Richard Dreyfuss is shown entering into a colossal flying ship, which transports him and other humans into the night sky. This is classified in the "ufology" field as a close encounter of the fourth kind, alien abduction.

The documentary "Beyond The Spectrum-Being Taken" investigates several incidents spanning a number of decades in which people claim to have seen, and many actually to have been physically taken (some even insisting they were bodily probed), by alien beings. Among the most prominently publicized of these alleged events, and which this production chronicles, involves the story of New Hampshire couple Betty and Barney Hill in the 1960s. The Hills reportedly recalled in considerable and striking detail their individual and collective abduction experience both before and during clinically conducted sessions of hypnosis.

Okay. So either you believe or you don't when it comes to UFOs and aliens, right? Or, as is alluded to in "Beyond The Spectrum-Being Taken", there exists a third option. A sort of gray area. Not complete acceptance. But not slam-the-door-shut dismissal either.

You'll find me residing there.

Here's guessing that directors Darcy Weir and Lee Lustig will find their film - Beyond The Spectrum: Being Taken - heavily watched. They've hit apparent pay dirt with the latest in a long line of alien docs dating back to episodes of In Search Of, and this one is done particularly well. Of equal importance is the fact that the UFO/alien space is a documentary sub-genre with an absolutely insatiable historical audience that isn't going away.

Kudos to Weir and Lustig for narrowing the usually broad UFO-driven scope just a bit, as Beyond The Spectrum maintains a focus primarily on abduction scenarios. We see testimony here that whether freshly captured or historically aggregated tells a crisp and compelling story. These people - from the abductees themselves to those in the scientific community privy to their cases - project in a way that our values tell us is truthful were we to watch these same revelations recounted from the witness stand. It's this carefully curated selection of interview material - along with fast-paced, informational, "what if" narration - that drives this film past its more dubious pretenders.

Before even giving it a chance, the cynic may have seen or passed subjective judgement on enough alien documentary offerings to preemptively write off any new submissions as nothing more than additional 2AM Cheetos-and-weed fodder. To each their own, but in a testament to the pacing and writing embedded in Beyond The Spectrum: Being Taken, this is an abduction doc that I found sharply engaged parts of the brain while allowing others to unplug. Highly recommended.

If you are curious about UFO's and Science Beyond the Spectrum... is for you. I've done research on this subject and this film is spot on!

Beyond the Spectrum brilliantly looks into alleged abductions and UFO phenomenon. The documentary maintains a focus primarily on abduction scenarios. The testimony ranges from newly captured interviews or historically added video research, full of interesting and compelling stories. The carefully curated selection of interview material, along with the narrations creates an extraterrestrial experience, transporting you into a new dimension of documentary. If you are a fan of great mysteries or Alien life on this planet, you have to watch this. Beyond the Spectrum is one of the best documentaries I've seen about this, treating the subject in a very intelligent way.

Captivating indie sci-fi with nice production value and some unexpected surprises. I really enjoyed it!