Streaming on Hulu
I cannot remember the last time the Halloween season had such an incredible and fantastic kickoff, precisely describing this movie! Not only is this the best way to begin this year's spooky season, it's an out-of-this-world film in every way possible! Delivering stunning performances, wild cat & mouse sequences, and a fun fusion of the home invasion and alien invasion genres. While I have joked about how an endorsement from Stephen King isn't always a guaranteed stamp of high quality (see The Dark Tower for proof), this is one instance where it is warranted and deserved. This Halloween is starting off with a delightful bang!
The story follows a young woman named Brynn (Kaitlyn Dever) living alone in her family's secluded house. She spends her days visiting her mother's grave, building a diorama of her hometown with birdhouses, and writing letters to her best friend (though we never see her mail any of them.) Meanwhile, the entire town dislikes Brynn for something that happened in the past, alienating her from the community. Brynn's routine gets rudely disrupted when a literal Alien invades her home and the town. In her struggle to survive, she will find herself confronting her past and seeking some kind of safe haven wherever and however she may find it. The only question is, will she deserve any kind of redemption?
The most fascinating aspect of this movie is its lack of dialogue. Everything in the narrative is conveyed through clever camera language and performances, especially from the lead, Kaitlyn Dever, who effortlessly carries the entire movie on her shoulders. Everything about her is conveyed through her thoughtful actions and calculated facial expressions. It's a movie that remembers and reinforces how film is a visual medium, first and foremost. It's not a silent film; it utilizes the format to its fullest extent, which is always appreciated!
True horror cinema isn't about blood and guts; it's about the human condition's tragic and emotionally damaging aspects. Stories where the character(s) are forced to confront their own personal demons, making the audience wonder what they will become when they make it across the finish line (assuming they ever do so). This movie is a character piece, first and foremost, with the alien invasion providing an external force that causes the protagonist to confront their internal troubles. This is a welcome and much-appreciated return to form in the modern age of oversaturated gore porn horror movies (I'm looking at you, Saw X).
The music and sound design is absolutely stellar! It has a quality and style that succeeds in feeling Alien yet eerily familiar. Most of the movie's best scares come from the sounds, like hearing rapid & quiet footsteps running up the stairs to your room. As a prime example of fusing appropriate sounds with visuals, you can't go wrong here.
The cinematography is the only aspect of the film that has me less than impressed (frustratingly so). This is yet another film that suffers from being too dark, as it's nearly impossible to see what's on screen. Most of the film takes place at night and is often perceivably lit by the moon when practical and UFO lights aren't in the scene. It's an unfortunate and often repeated problem with digital cinematography, where they assume that the camera's sensitivity will pick up all the detail they need.
Pro tip: no matter how dark you want a scene to be, there must still (always) be some sort of contrast within the shot. I watched this movie on a 4K screen with high-quality HDR, and it was still too dark!
To be fair, the movie does utilize shadows well for the atmosphere, and it is not excessively dark throughout the runtime.
Despite the movie falling victim to the dreaded and mysteriously popular trend of underexposing to the point of incomprehension, it is still a fantastic experience that will provide a thrilling and spook-filled beginning to the Halloween season. This is what real horror cinema looks like, and I hope we get more like it in the future.
If you have a Hulu account or permitted access to one, please get this movie in front of your eyeballs post haste!
Welcome to the Halloween season!
Ladies & gentlemen, I am TheNorm; thank you all for reading.
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