[FILM]
ENCOUNTER
Not loving the aliens.
★★★★
OUT 3 DECEMBER (CINEMAS) 10 DECEMBER (AMAZON PRIME VIDEO) / CERT TBC / 108 MINS
DIRECTOR Michael Pearce
CAST Riz Ahmed, Octavia Spencer, Janina Gavankar
PLOT In the Nevada desert, former Marine Malik (Ahmed) attempts to save his two young sons from an alien invasion in which parasites are taking over people’s brains. But could it be the demons Malik is battling exist only inside his own head?
IN 2017, BRITISH filmmaker Michael Pearce made a stunning feature debut with Beast, a Jersey-set Gothic fairy tale about a young woman who falls for a mysterious outsider as a spate of murders rock her isolated community. His bigger-budgeted, US-set follow-up Encounter surprisingly follows a more traditional narrative — and arguably takes fewer risks — but still leaves a mark.