Beyond the Sky

I liked it a lot. It is very unpredictable and that is why it is so interesting.

Well, I didn't even know about "Beyond the Sky" - aka "Encounter" - prior to getting the chance to sit down and watch it. Normally the Sci-Fi genre is not my first choice of go-to movies, but alien abductions just have something alluring about them. So I gave the movie a chance.

Turns out that I am not wasting my time in doing so, because "Beyond the Sky" actually turned out to be a rather entertaining movie and had an interesting story to tell. I liked how director Fulvio Sestito and writers Rebecca Berrih, Marc Porterfield, Fulvio Sestito and Rob Warren Thomas came up with a storyline that both keeps the audience in the dark, trying to guess and figure out if there is some truth to the happenings or if it is all hoax and make-belief.

There is a good atmosphere to the movie and it feels like you are right there in the midst of the action yourself. So that was a rather enjoyable aspect of the movie. And of course it was set to take place in Roswell, New Mexico, where else could it have been for a movie such as this? Sure, that was a bit corny, but hey it is all part of the charm and the whole mystery that surrounds alien abductions and visits from outer space.

They had a fairly good cast coming together for the movie, and each actually performed quite well and brought their respective character to life on the screen. I was not familiar with the three lead performers; Ryan Carnes - playing Chris Norton, but he performed quite well in this movie. As did Jordan Hinson - playing Emily Reed, and also Claude Duhamel - playing Brent.

It was nice to see the likes of Don Stark - playing Bill Johnson, Peter Stomare - playing Peter Norton and Dee Wallace - playing Lucille, in the movie as well. While their roles were not all that prominent, well Don Stark's character was, then they provided a needed spicy element to the movie with their performances.

While "Beyond the Sky" is a movie that deals with an extraterestial phenomena, it is not a movie that is heavy in its usage with CGI and special effects. And that actually worked out quite well, because the movie was more about suspense, building up tension and atmosphere. But the special effects and CGI that was there was spot on, and really worked so well for the movie.

I was more than genuinely entertained with this movie, and I had somewhat expected it to be a less than mediocre movie experience, perhaps even one of those kind of found-footage movies with shoddy camerawork. Glad it turned out not to be that kind. If you enjoy light Sci-Fi and have an interest in alien abductions, then you should definitely take the time to sit down and watch "Beyond the Sky".

The overall storyline is ok, with just enough suspense and unexpected twists. The best actor performance comes from the supporting cast, Claude Duhamel and Peter Stormare. Some sequences are lacking in directing artistry. For me there is also too much use of hand-held camera (found footage technique).

Overall, I'd say Beyond the Sky is a pretty good alien abduction film. But a few blunders here and there stop it from getting a better score.

The movie makes use of some "cam shots", as it's basically following a video "journalist" (more of a blogger as he has no professionalism) who wants to disprove alien abductions. Fortunately it doesn't suffer from the usual shaky cam, blurry nonsense the "found footage" movies do. The camera shots are used in places and mostly done quite well. Most of the film is standard movie angles and all with just bits of cam footage tossed in at decent moments. Such restraint is definitely appreciated.

On the flip side, the so called journalist really doesn't deserve the title. He basically aggressively accuses alien abductees of lying, constantly getting in their face about things. While it's fine to not be a believer, to basically tell people that they're lying to cover up other traumatic experiences and badgering them about is downright stupid, and usually would result in a punch to the face. As a journalist, or even just a human being, the way the main character treats others is downright shameful.

The special effects are decently done (though most of that budget goes into the last few minutes of the movie). No cheesy special effects that you'd see in a SyFy flick. They have a budget and work well within it to make the most of the presentation.

One of the biggest flaws for me though, is that the movie basically does one of the stupidest things any show or movie could do. It shows you parts of the ending, and then jumps back to X days earlier. NEVER do that. EVER! You're basically spoiling your movie right from the start, which for a lot of people is enough to just give up on it right there. When you know the outcome, then all the rest of the movie becomes mostly meaningless. Everything that could have been an interesting reveal basically becomes an expected outcome.

If not for the horrible idea to put key parts of the end right at the start, this movie would have probably scored an 8 out of 10. It's really a wonderful low budget alien abduction film with a lot going for it.

A good story with average acting and above average special effects. It's not breaking any molds here, but it's worth the watch if you enjoy stuff about extraterrestrial conspiracies.