Great acting, good CGI... All the rest sucks.

It was a surprise to see Tiffany Haddish acting for real, and not just trying too hard to be funny. And she was good. I hope other actors, like Kevin Hart just to mention one of many, would learn that just screaming to be funny doesn't equate to good acting. To continue this line of thought, the movie tries way too hard to be deep, and it only made a pretentious mess of a lot of topics and not coming to conclusion in any of them.

If you don't like open endings, you won't like the end of this.

The whole thing is as forgettable as the title... what was the title?...

This film is a mixed bag of genres that really didn't work when combined. The story started off with so much promising potential with the initial premise being very creative, then it devolves into a narrative that was just too convoluted, inconsistent, lacking impact, and riddled with tonal inconsistencies that will leave you scratching your head. Even the attempts at humor were more cringe than laughs.

The filmmaker's ambition surpassed his execution, that struggled to balance a social commentary, a coming-of-age romance, and a sci-fi dystopian cautionary tale. Sadly, the film ends up failing on both dramatic and comedic levels, and ultimately is underwhelming and will leave you feeling frustratingly unsatisfied, especially the ending, which felt lazy and rushed.

I will credit this film with some impressively staged sequences and set pieces with great performances by all cast members, but that wasn't enough to overshadow this film's failure to tell a compelling story. Maybe in the hands of better filmmakers, this may have been a hit, but as is, it's a miss, and a loss of 105 poorly paced minutes I'll never get back. It's a generous 6/10 for the great concept, performances, cinematography and score.

Greetings again from the darkness. Alien invasion movies have long been a favorite of science-fiction filmmakers, as well as platform for those who strive to caution us to our societal missteps and wrong choices along life's muddy path. Within the past couple of weeks I watched JULES (2023), a cute, heart-warming story about an alien who crash-lands in Pennsylvania and is cared for by Ben Kingsley's character. Going back further we have the thoughtful ARRIVAL (2016), the outlandish MEN IN BLACK (1997), the precious E. T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (1982) from Spielberg, the frightening ALIEN (1979) by James Cameron, the often-re-made WAR OF THE WORLDS (1953), and the classic FORBIDDEN PLANET (1956). Of course, this is but a tiny portion of the complete list, but it gives some idea of the long-lived fascination.

Writer-director Cory Finley has become a rising star with the devilishly entertaining THOROUGHBREDS (2017) and BAD EDUCATION (2019). For his third feature, he has chosen to adapt MT Anderson's 2017 novel, and in the process delivers a hit and miss commentary on the human race. Artwork is creatively utilized to provide the timeline and backstory of how the technologically advanced aliens invaded and began rule the planet. It takes us to the year 2036, five years after "First Contact." It's here where we find the Campbell family: mother Beth (Tiffany Haddish), son Adam (an excellent Asante Blackk, "This is Us"), and daughter Nathalie (Brooklynn MacKinzie). Beth is a former lawyer, unable to find work and struggling to make ends meet for the family. Adam is the main feature here, as a high school student who is exploring his talent as an artist, while also falling for new girl Chloe (Kylie Rogers, "Yellowstone") who is homeless with her dad (Josh Hamilton) and bitter brother Hunter (Michael Gandolfini).

The aliens, known as Vuvv, have their own scratchy language, and the appearance of slimy loaves of bread with four paddle legs and two caterpillar eyes. As a species, they are mesmerized by human romance, and the newest Courtship Broadcast they follow is "Adam and Chloe in Love." The two teenagers gain a following, which means money for their families. However, since much of the movie is spent harping on the evils of capitalism, the two soon find themselves being sued by the aliens for misrepresentation, putting themselves and their families at risk. A particularly creative solution to the problem finds one of the Vuvv moving into the home and attempting to emulate sitcom family life as seen on "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" (personally I would have preferred "Leave it to Beaver").

This is not one of the post-apocalyptic films that have become so popular. Rather it's social commentary that doesn't dig very deep and sticks to the easy targets. There are a few doses of clever humor, including a SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION shot in a golf course sandtrap, and a school lunch menu that includes Saturn sliders and Moon nuggets. Adam's story is one of a young man striving to maintain his sense of self despite other-worldly obstacles. The lessons are clear in that money can't buy happiness, but even that lesson doesn't prevent us from wanting satire to go a bit deeper with its commentary ... warbling music (Michael Abel) isn't quite enough. Although this film isn't at the level of his first two features, filmmaker Cory Finley will surely deliver future projects that inspire thought and soul-searching.

Opens in theaters on August 18, 2023.