Steve Payne

(12A) 94mins

Director: Gareth Edwards

Starring: Scoot McNairy, Whitney Able

AT LAST a sci-fi film that is much more than just hi-tech wizardry (or CGI gone mad) and blood and guts.

This compataively low budget film is deservedly getting massive plaudits and has pushed its way into one of my favourite movies of the year.

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Some of the audience I was among obviously hadn’t read the pre-publicity and were expecting some kind of Alien scenario or a sort of Independence Day type conclusion - hence the boredom during the film and some mutterings after it.

But for the rest of us the movie was a joy - beautifully filmed, with two leading actors who gelled perfectly (not difficult as they got married shortly after making the movie).

McNairy plays a photojournalist tasked with escorting his boss’s daughter from Mexico to the USA.

The problem is, six years earlier, alien lifeforms landed on Earth and are living in an ‘infected zone’ between the countries.

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It’s coming up to the breeding season for these lifeforms who, consequently, are even more frisky.

There’s plenty of tension and excitement and a few aliens wandering around, but this is so much more.

It’s a story about two emotionally troubled people thrown together and their blossoming friendship. It’s about overcoming hardship, about who are the real ‘monsters’, about misunderstanding, about making the most of life.

Most of the ‘cast’ are just bystanders who were asked to take part and the crew spent much of the time driving round looking for good spots to film. So the broken streets, buildings and vehicles are for real.

Armed with this info the film is truly outstanding.

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In fact it’s one of those movies you end up buying as a DVD and appreciating the work of the director and ‘cast’ even more.

It’s much more fun on the big screen, but just make sure you go to a later screening when, hopefully, bored teenagers won’t talk all the way through it.

five out of five stars

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