Dark Skies

Aliens exist, and they have direct control over the avian will to live.

Dark Skies is a “horror” film, released in early 2013 that centers on what appears to be preternatural circumstances occurring to a typical rural family. Food goes missing, birds fly into windows (lots and lots of birds), people have a tendency to stand outside at nighttime staring at the sky, and the canned vegetables get arranged in really interesting formations while everyone sleeps. Toss in a dash of creepy kids (aren’t they all?) plus aliens and you’ve got the makings of a great cinema experience, right?!

No. That’s not how movies work. The term “formulaic” would be an understatement to the overused mold this film follows. Not just the typical three acts and a finale, either. Normal suburban family, the kids get all creepy-like, this creates a rift between the parents, come to find out the cause is out of their control, they seek out the wise old patriarch to explain the situation, reject that idea, older child rebels, embrace original idea, finale. If I ruined Dark Skies for you, you’re welcome. Also, and only slightly off topic: if you’re ever in search of the true definition of a “worm hole” experience while on the internet, try reading up on Aliens, abductions, Grey’s, and so on and so forth, it’s a limitless wealth of anecdotal evidence, with lots of really brilliant sounding people pontificating on the existence of entire species without any actual evidence. It’s certainly a fascinating way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon, but I digress.

“Leave my son alone!”

I’m not saying the film is about aliens. But it’s aliens. It was never really a mystery, sorry. The whole film plays out like everything is supposed to be a mystery, but nothing ever is. Even the big “twist” at the end is mired in so much false pretense, I found myself not really caring. As this giant revelation occurs, the story is written as if this giant cover has been pulled back for a big reveal, and the audience has so little invested from the last hour of crying-wolf that it lacks any type of merit.

Which brings me back around to the performances. I’m sure Keri Russell is a fine actress. Personally, I’ve seen her before, but she has always been significantly unmemorable to me. Here, she is so frigid and sterile I have difficulty accepting her as a mother figure; there is very little emotion or caring for her family or children at all in her performance. Josh Hamilton, who plays the father did very well (which was only passable, but Oscar-worthy when compared to Keri Russell), but his role was spread so thin between the issues his family is experiencing and a subplot regarding his career, it took away from his role entirely. Lastly, J.K. Simmons, who plays the ‘wise old man with all the answers’, does well, but his part is so completely cliché, the viewer would never notice him doing anything since your eyes should rolling in disgust.

Forgettable is another understatement I dare use for this film. Its story has been told before (and generally better), in its entirety, Dark Skies plays out like a hodgepodge of Close Encounters, Exorcist, Wolf and a slurry of horrible B-Movies. Dark Skies was originally released on February 22, 2013 in the US, where it went on to gross over $18 million worldwide. However, to give perspective, its competition was the Rock fronted Snitch, and several limited release films; so without much to go against, those numbers may appear a bit inflated.