Alienated (2016)
Starring George Katt, Jen Burry, Taylor Negron
Directed by Brian Ackley
Relationship issues are certainly nothing to sneeze at in any facet, and the best remedy is to talk through said problems, but when the lines of communication appear to break down, is there a way back from the impending head-on collision that a fractured couple is doomed to face? Oh yeah, silly me…did I fail to mention the “possible” sighting of a UFO added to the already complicated mix that our duo has to contend with? Grab a seat on the therapist’s couch, cause it’s time to become Alienated.
Director Brian Ackley opts for a dialogue-riddled presentation that focuses on an already splitting-at-the-seams couple, and their infinite inability to resolve their rapport with one another. Nate (Katt) and Paige (Burry) are a husband and wife doublet that appears to have reached the breaking point in their wedded union – always wearing thin on each other’s nerves and an apparent disdain for a solution. Trouble ramps up when one night Nate feels as if he’s witnessed strange lights in the sky over their home, and his initial excited reaction is rebuffed quite staunchly by Paige – Houston, BIG problem. As it looks like a serious threat to the planet is upon us, it takes a very pronounced back-seat to the issues at hand, and you know what? It works marvelously. Adding a very sharp point to this triangulation of trouble is blind neighbor Griffin (played excellently by the late comedian Taylor Negron) – his shortcoming of vision loss only enhances his ability to see directly through the couple’s issues, and something tells me he knows a lot more about the big picture than he’s letting on.
The movie works on a number of different levels, with not only the issues between the couple in the middle of the mess, but also the very eerie apprehension of otherworldly visitors on our doorstep, and for Negron’s final performance, his depiction of an insightful, yet sightless outsider is simply stellar. It all adds up to a film that really should be checked out by both sci-fi fans and the people who love to watch relationships crumble (ya sadistic sickos). Now while some will nail this to the wall with all the dialogue going on, there really isn’t a better way to capture the strife that exists between the husband and wife, and the portrayals by both Katt and Burry cement an already rock-solid foundation for the film itself. Overall, I’d definitely recommend this one to fans of slow-boiling, pulse-quickening, little-green-men movies…hell, it’s cheaper than marriage counseling, and probably a more productive way of spending your time and dough.
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Film
Categorized:Reviews
