This feels like the kind of flex every screenwriter-cum-director wants to make. After making his mark with some incredibly well-scripted efforts with The Babysitter, Love And Monsters, and even his directorial debut with Spontaneous, it looks like Brian Duffield wanted to show that he could tell a great story without even needing dialogue. And indeed, this is a film about a largely-mute protagonist who says all of one line, and the rest of the cast are just as silent. As someone who has been growing to love Duffield’s cinematic work, I was definitely curious about how such a venture would shape out.
At around 90 minutes, Duffield doesn’t waste any time in depicting Kaitlyn Dever’s Brynn as her house (and later her whole town) is invaded by classic Roswellian grey aliens. He pulls the same trick that Shyamalan did with Signs, going back to the archetypal visage of what we think of when we hear ‘alien’ and tapping into an almost-primal fear that’s subconsciously associated with it. Something so very close to looking human, yet absolutely nowhere close, with their varying designs featuring prehensile and freakishly elongated limbs, along with some telekinesis to really drive the threat home.
As soon as Brynn encounters one of these aliens, the thrills stay remarkably consistent from then on, following her as she tries to defend herself, fails to get outside help, and eventually comes face-to-face with the heart of the invasion force and, in turn, the reason for her own isolation. She isn’t mute because of any biological factor; it’s the result of social isolation from being the town pariah, with townsfolk sneering and literally spitting at her, such is her maligned reputation.
But that doesn’t really seem to go far enough in explaining why Dever’s performance here works so damn well. I mean, even with those societal factors, most modern films (and hell, even old-school sci-fi staples) have made it quite normal for characters to just talk to themselves at length. And yet we don’t even get that. Her actions, even her inner voice, is dedicated solely to staying alive, and because there’s no underlying notion that she (or the film around her) is in the habit of distracting themselves from the task at hand, it makes the incredibly visceral mood of the production hit in a way that I’m not used to getting from modern thrillers, sci-fi-based or otherwise.
And in the midst of the chilly visual palette, the phenomenal sound mixing that brings out every guttural croak and cracking bone from the aliens, and Dever selling every moment of panic she’s made to offer, there’s an emotional depth to the whole thing that took me aback somewhat. It’s yet another Trauma story, but the way that Duffield bends it around the more fantastical threat and… well, the feeling of alienation, it unfolds into a representation of this kind of speculative fiction as something that real-world Others hold onto for solace. Those who are made to feel like they don’t belong among their own species, and then end up drawn towards stories of those who literally aren’t of their own species.
It has a similarly morbid
gravitational pull as The Babysitter, another example of finding peace and
happiness in something that others would find gross and weird. The conclusion
to all this may have had me scratching my head at the bigger implications of
it… but honestly, after offering up one of the better visual depictions of what
trauma feels like to live with, it falls rather neatly into Edgelord Optimism.
Much like Alex Garland did with Annihilation, this marks Brian Duffield officially earning his stripes as a visual storyteller. He took a gamble in going sans dialogue for this, along with sticking to the guts of both the home invasion and alien invasion sub-genres. But in doing so, not only did he deliver one of the better Trauma stories I’ve seen this year, but as a straight-up genre thriller, this is amazingly well-paced and delivers wall-to-wall entertainment. Quite frankly, I think Disney needs their heads examined if they didn’t think this was worth putting into cinemas.
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