Darkening Sky

I just finished watching this and I honestly feel that it deserves a higher rating than it's current 4.3. I mean, MOST films rated that low here are SERIOUSLY horrible! But, I really enjoyed it and even though it was rather simple and clearly very low budget, still, I felt that they did a very good job not only in keeping one's interest but also in actually building some suspense as the story progresses.

At first, I didn't really care for the main guy very much; but, as the story continued without giving too much away, I could see some logic in why he came across that way (heh... is that vague enough...?) As I usually mention in my reviews here, COMPARATIVELY, as far as the general competence, writing, direction, and particularly the acting, which is the usual weakness with lower budget films, I truly felt that they did a good job in putting across a good story with some good Thriller aspects and a good ending. I think the narration was a nice touch, especially considering the direction that the movie took ultimately. And even though the visual effects were pretty simple, they did well with what they had to work with. Some of the camera work / editing were done obviously to mask the low cost of the film and to simplify what normally might be a difficult 'action' scene; but again, all things considered, I felt that they did a good job.

The overall true theme and direction of the film has certainly been done many, MANY times before. For me personally, again without giving too much away, I usually do not find this specific kind of story very satisfying because it indeed HAS been So overdone in recent years. So, the fact that it falls within that general category and I still enjoyed it, says a lot, at least from me. With the exception of a few films that do this well (and NO, I am not gonna ruin it by naming them : ) I normally find the way that this type of film is handled usually comes across as rather clichéd with the ending being sort of a cop-out to explain things. In this film they do it MUCH better than usual, although I do believe this is the first film that I have seen this done where the story has been based upon an Alien / Abduction type sub-theme. I also REALLY liked that the ending was done in such a way as to leave you a perfectly balanced choice as to what was really going on... (thus the refreshing lack of it 'necessarily' having the usual obvious, cop-out ending)

So, FOR WHAT IT IS and as I have said almost in EVERY review that I have written here, compared to the literal TSUNAMI of crap that passes for entertainment these days, I am inclined to give a little low budget film like this a lot of slack where many others will simply dismiss it, as long as it is executed well, the actors don't drive me up the wall, the script is competent, and ABOVE ALL... a decent mood is set. Oh, btw, I really did like the sound design and I felt that it really added to the effectiveness of the film and made up quite a bit for it's low cost. I REALLY liked the closing song; I wish that it had lasted longer before they faded in the harder theme.

Overall I definitely give it a 6-7; certainly more than it is rated here...

This is a very low budget psychological sci-fi drama & it's filmed in a raw almost documentary way & it works for the weird style of film this is at one point it's like a Horror movie & at times it's like a drama about lost lonely troubled people especially Rider Strongs character he's very lost & troubled & yet again another EXCELLENT performance by Rider who is a fantastic actor who seems to be constantly dismissed & underrated? Maybe it's because he's a regular in the Horror genre like Cabin Fever (2002),Borderland (2007),Tooth & Nail (2007) & Death Valley (2004) so he is definitely a Horror favourite but that doesn't mean he's not one hell of an actor!!! Watch the terrifying true life Crime Horror Borderland (2007) to see just how BRILLIANT Rider Strong is as an actor!!! Anyway back to this movie yes it's very low budget but it's a good moody film with a great performance by Rider. Can't say too much about the plot or story just let it unfold & wait for a surprising end!!!

A combination of science fiction and supernatural ideas. Alien abduction versus dreams. The gorgeous actress Danielle Keaton reminds me so much of the character, Death in The Sandman comic books written by Neil Gaiman. As a matter of fact her character name in the movie is, Beth. Same exact look and hairstyle.

Maybe I've just become so jaded by the type of 'sci fi' that is pumped out by big budget studios nowadays that I'm just finding anything even slightly off the wall far more interesting and engaging.

And by using sci fi in commas I mean just that. Alot of big budget sci fi simply isn't sci fi, but a highly polished, test audience approved, generic, safe, play it by the numbers bland, kid friendly, boring fantasy flick.

Darkening Sky is far from an original movie. In fact it reminded me abit of The Arrival (1996) starring Charlie Sheen. But the what Darkening Sky does extremely well is opt for a more psychological route with a massive dose of paranoia. In fact you could even make the case that this isn't so much a sci fi flick but rather a psychological thriller against a sci fi backdrop.

Whether you believe in alien abductions or not, what you can't deny is the phenomenon of people claiming to have been abducted by aliens.

I certainly do not believe that humans have ever been abducted by aliens but at the same time I do like to have my beliefs and assumptions challenged. Darkening Sky does a pretty good job of putting you in the shoes of someone claiming to be an abductee. Assuming that someone claiming to have been abducted by aliens isn't being disingenious, you only have two feasible explanations. They're either deluded or suffering from psychosis, or they were in fact truly abducted.

Darkening Sky maintains the balance between explanations throughout very well. The acting by the two leads especially Rider Strong is pretty good for a low budget movie. I don't really recall seeing him in anything else but he certainly didn't come across as your typical B grade low budget incapable actor.

The low budget obviously shows in the quality of the effects, but the last thing to impress me about a movie is the quality of CGI. For me if you have a poor movie, top notch CGI just amounts to putting lipstick on a donkey. It's meaningless.

The music is sombre and suspensful, the direction is of a reasonable standard, the dialogue is realistic and doesn't come across as forced.

All in all Darkening Sky is a pretty decent movie, so if you're into low budget sci fi flicks don't miss it. If on the other hand you're more into your big studio releases and can't stand a movie that doesn't adhere to the cheery hollywod ending formula then this movie definitely isnt for you.

I'm a complete and utter sucker for these types of movies which (without delving into spoilers) not only play with a paranormal/supernatural concept in such a way as to be explained by something mundane, but also leave the mystery intact by not fully explaining everything to us, and framing the story in such a way that it could easily be either one or the other.

This film has a bit of a goofy start, very plainly obviously low budget and some of the acting drops to some questionable quality. This is not the major problem, but the style of the film doesn't do much to try to overcome this low-budget feel, and so a lot depends on the viewer being able to latch on to the characters, Eric and Beth, to navigate them through the early parts of the film which play coy with the concept ---- Eric is studying "modern mythology" and leans heavily towards being a skeptic with regards to alien abductions, and has to be dragged into that realm of possibility in more and more convenient ways.

The film has something of a twist ending, but the best part about it is that the twist ending isn't something that comes out of seemingly nowhere or requires you to have been taking notes all throughout the film; the inevitability of it is very slowly and gradually brought up all throughout the last 30-40 minutes of it.

Even the most casual of viewer can start to pick upon the idea that a whole lot of the conflict and conversation, even down to mundane events like Eric's former professor paying him a visit the day after a call in which he expressed interest in returning to school to work on his doctorate, starts to become more and more easily ascribed to paranoia rather than aliens.

and yet when the ending hits, it does so in a way which does not nail down one resolution over another, but instead escalates the conflict in a much more complicated way, in which it becomes even less clear what the truth really is, not because the case for either explanation is flimsy, but because the seed of doubt can completely break down either one.