Alien at the Movies

Weapons

There is something really wrong here in the small town of Maybrook when one night at exactly 2:17 am, 17 students (all but one) from Miss Gandy’s classroom suddenly vanished for no apparent reason!!! This sets off this community to ask why… how… who or what is behind is behind this eerie event? As shown on security camera footage, these children left their homes willingly in the middle of the night all at the same time. Just so bizarre. What witchcraft is this? Is it paranormal? Is it supernatural? Is it demonic? What evil plot is this? And what is the meaning of this movie’s title? So many questions! This horror mystery is told in personal chapters…. teacher, contractor, cop, druggie, student, principal… each giving some little pieces of clues… what’s relevant… what’s relative… By about the third chapter, I️ was beginning to see a purpose to this method. This movie is more mystery & suspense in the beginning but quickly ramps up the terror & fright after the reveal. Can you figure out what evil is driving this plot before the key players? The teacher is driven to drink from all of the accusations against her. The angry dad is confrontational. The lone remaining student seems very shy & has nothing to say. The cop & the druggie have a couple of run-ins. The principal is searching for answers & trying to calm the upset parents. Filmmakers have constructed an elaborate puzzle feeding audiences little hints a little at a time for them to solve this weird case. This one feels more creepy at the start but shifts quickly to horror mode for the finale. I️ liked that look of the film & the actors were terrific. Even the actor kids seemed to relish their big scenes. I️ am not a particular big fan of the horror genre, but I️ was impressed with how well crafted this film was. Julia Garner, Josh Brolin, Benedict Wong, Alden Ehrenreich, & Amy Madigan highlight the cast.

Alien gives it 4 “running with airplane wings” stars out of 4.