Extraterrestrial Review

Alien invasion flicks are ten-a-penny in Hollywood, but after a while they all start to look the same; overblown cautionary tales of us-vs-them that more often than not build to a climax that involves military might taking on the visitors and invariably coming out victorious.

So it's nice to see the Spanish coming up with an entirely new approach to the sub-genre, with Extraterrestrial mixing sci-fi with screwball comedy and twisted romance.

The story is a simple one - Julio wakes up in an apartment that is not his own, nursing a raging hangover. Turns out he has indulged in a one-night stand with Julia, and following an awkward conversation about the previous night's events, the pair decide it is best for him to leave.

Only trouble is, Julio is unable to make the walk of shame as there is something amiss on the streets of Madrid. It maybe a Sunday, but the roads are empty, while the phone lines, TV and internet are all down. A look up to the sky reveals the root of these problems - namely that alien aircraft have arrived on earth, and are hovering over the streets in sinister fashion.

A visit from next-door-neighbour Angel brings news of the events of the night before, with Madrid evacuated but Angel remaining behind, clearly because he is madly (and somewhat obsessively) in love with Julia. Meanwhile the arrival of her boyfriend Carlos really confuses matters, with all three men trapped together in the apartment and clearly harbouring feelings for the femme fatale, creating something of a love quadrangle.


What follows is a twisted tale of love and betrayal, as the guys go to some pretty unpleasant - yet very funny - lengths to win Julia's heart; the alien invasion is simply a maguffin to bring these disparate characters together.

Writer-director Nacho Vigalondo - whose previous film was the time-travel masterpiece Timecrimes - oversees proceedings with a sure hand, effortlessly combining the light and the dark to create an utterly original tone for his film.

It's definitely stronger in the first half, with the narrative losing its way somewhat around the mid-way point, when the action leaves the apartment. But he cleverly reins it in for the finale, with the story not only concerning love and loss, but also ultimately redemption.

His four leads are also spot on, with Julian Villagran a likeably winning lead in spite of the fact that he does some horrible things, Michelle Jenner a simply stunning Julia, leaving you in no doubt as to why these three men would fall for her, and Carlos Areces on scene-stealing form as Angel, without doubt the film's most memorable character.

And make no mistake, this is a film about character rather than effects, with Extraterrestrial no more about aliens than last year's Monsters was about monsters.

Unfortunately it's not quite in that league in terms of quality, but the result is nevertheless a well-crafted romantic comedy that is chock-full of layers, managing to be both dark and light; twisted and sweet, and marking Vigalondo out as an utterly unique voice who has managed to bring something genuinely original to the genre.

• More Movies Reviews
• Latest Movies News, Reviews, and Videos