Dark Skies: A Review
A couple weekends ago, the film Dark Skies stumbled into my life, by means of a hotel television screen. (A theme here?) Strangely, I found myself enthralled by a year old sci-fi horror flick, that seemed to have been tossed under the rug of the film industry. I’m by no means a horror connoisseur, and after seeing this film I feel like my credibility towards the genre hasn’t increased in the slightest. But i’m not judging this film just on how scary it was (or wasn’t in this case) however. Spoilers definitely abound.
Published in
4 min readSep 23, 2014
The Barret family, like many other modern families, has issues, and struggles between finding resolution or simply putting up a front to maintain social status. One of these options requires a lot more effort, and usually doesn’t work. Daniel, the father, is in dire need of a job. Lacey, his wife, works as a realtor but sometimes allows her empathy to get in front of making a profit. Sammy, their youngest son is slowly becoming aware of the persistent arguments between his parents, and their other son Jessie faces the onset of imminently stepping into the world of adolescence. The scene is set: An already struggling family about to be presented with one more problem.
In terms of plot and story, the establishment of the Barret family is honestly about as interesting as it gets, unfortunately. The portrayal of a family trying to keep their head above the line that separates middle and lower class is something that hits close to home in 2013, and now even in 2014. The film shines particularly in the first 30 minutes. It shows that many problems go unseen until faced head on. Daniel and his wife lie in bed while a program about great white sharks plays on the TV. The narrator discusses the animal, calling it a “silent killer”, clearly foreshadowing the supernatural events about to unfold. The buildup of anticipation makes you want to jump at any second, but the premature appearance of a “grey”(an alien, yes it’s an alien cop out) causes no reaction of the sort. By showing the alien so soon, we’re given an answer. There are few things scarier than unanswered questions, which is what we were left with up until that point.
For the sake of having some sort of plot twist, Jessie’s character is left mainly undeveloped, which is unfortunate because honestly, it’s his movie, or at least it should have been. In fact, the way the film plays out, he’s basically neglected. Sammy starts having extremely strange episodes, leading to his parents thinking that the greys are looking to abduct him, which (spoiler) doesn’t actually happen. As a result of this, Jessie is given far less screen time than he deserved, to make it unexpected when (spoiler) he gets abducted. Jessie hangs out with an older kid, much to his father’s dismay, and is perhaps exposed to a great deal of things sooner than he should be. The silent killer here is not aliens, but rather adolescence, the unseen force that begins to take him from his family. Jessie puts on a strong, angst-y face, but is conflicted about where he really stands. While waiting for a hang out of sorts to start, he spends his time childishly jumping on a couch to pass the time. Following this, he has his first kiss. The only musical addition to the film(Days by The Drums) also occurs after this, while he’s riding home reflecting on the night’s events. In that split second we’re given a glimpse of the film’s potential as a sort of coming of age, and it’s a real shame because the film, as well as his family, misses out on the most defining moments of life.
I’d venture to say that Dark Skies probably won’t be inducted into AFI’s Top Greatest Movies. Even now, only a year after its release, any mention of it seems to have faded. It fell short in a lot of ways, particularly in plot and delivery, failing to deliver a climax worthy of all the anticipation, and ultimately not really being scary at all. However, the greatness of Dark Skies lies in its subtleties, and had these aspects been capitalized upon, would have made it a much better film. In a few instances it exemplifies what the medium of film should do: showing, not telling. The scene in which Daniel has a job interview uses expressive camera work to show the amount of pressure and scrutiny one is under during an interview. The Camera literally presses down on the subject, Daniel, to show the emotions he’s feeling. The scene also shows how inhuman prospective employers can seem, showing only his hands flipping through a notebook, and speaking in monotone. The coloring of the room is also dark and foreboding to add to the mood. Similarly, the scene in which Daniel and Lacey question their kids about missing photographs, the camera is used to apply pressure to the subjects. This at least added some shot variety. Perhaps not the most innovative, but definitely effective.
Overall, even though Dark Skies may have fallen short in a lot of ways, it’s definitely not the worst film. I’d give it a solid C, and as most college students would like to believe, C’s get degrees.
Background image courtesy of google images. This article is meant to reflect my opinion and not state facts or degrade the film. I do not own the film or anything associated with it. This is not meant to infringe upon copyright.
