If you've seen the trailer for this movie then you probably
know what the main theme involved is. If not then by all means wait until
you've seen it before reading further. Yes, this is a spoiler alert for those
who have no clue what this movie is about.
Years ago it seemed that we lived in paranoid fear of what
beings from another planet might intend for those of us here. Movies had a
common theme of us versus them and a battle always followed. Then Steven
Spielberg brought us both E.T. and CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND and
suddenly aliens were a friendly bunch who just wanted to hang out. That gets
tossed aside and the old times return with the movie DARK SKIES.
The Barrett family seems like your typical suburban group.
Mother Lacy (Keri Russell) is a real estate agent, father Daniel (Josh
Hamilton) is a recently unemployed architect, older son Jesse (Dakota Goyo) is
the typical troubled teen going through adolescence and youngster Sam (Kadan
Rockett) is pretty much oblivious to it all just thinking about playing. Their
life seems idyllic at first but then we get glimpses of troubled times like a
90 day notice on their mortgage.
It seems that Daniel has been unemployed longer than we
suspected and finding a job isn't going as well as he had hoped. Lacy is also
having problems not being able to sell some of the properties she's been in
charge of. To cap it off Jesse's rebellious side is beginning to show itself in
the tone he uses now and then.
As if this wasn't enough, strange things begin to happen
around the house. First off Lacy goes downstairs one night to find her
refrigerator emptied all over the kitchen floor yet she's just seen everyone
asleep in their beds. The next night she wakes and goes down to find all the food
in the cupboards stacked in geometrical patterns like a jigsaw puzzle on the
tables, chairs and counters. The police find no evidence of break in and
suspect someone in the house is doing this.
Daniel has their house security system re-started and the
results offer nothing more than the alarm going off with these same sorts of
situations found in the house. When the parents question the boys, of course
they know nothing of what's going on. But Sam does tell his mother about
someone who told him not to tell, who was behind all this. He tells her it was
the Sandman.
At first afraid that the stress of their home life may be
doing something to their children, they attempt to gather more information.
Daniel sets up a camera system connected to the computer to watch the halls and
rooms. What he finds is glitches that travel from room to room but show
nothing. Things get stranger still when Sam flips out at the playground and
can't remember a thing. Then Lacy finds she can't account for 6 hours of her
day yet has a bruise on her forehead.
Things change and the story alters, from what could have
been a ghost story to science fiction, when Lacy enters Sam's room one night
and in the darkness sees a shape standing over the bed. Lights turned on and he
disappears but Sam is suddenly outside looking towards the sky. With no
understanding of what is happening and fears that no one can calm, the couple
eventually turn to a source they're not sure of, a man who studies these sorts
of things. But is this contact enough for them to change things around?
The movie offers a number of jump scenes and quick glimpses
into what might be going on without revealing it for certain until Lacy's
glimpse. It is then that as viewers we know what's going on for sure but the
characters still aren't quite convinced. The suspense factor in the film is
held up throughout and it's not until half way through that you begin to have
thoughts of what might be. Of course the trailer, as I said earlier, did give
you enough information that you tend to veer off the haunted track and more
towards...well you'll see.
The production values of the film are top notch. Everything
from every single performance to the photography are melded together to make a
suspenseful film that will hold your interest from start to finish. Best of all
the movie doesn't go for the cheap and easy route of extreme gore (with a few
minor scenes) or over the top effects. Instead it relies on storytelling and
involving characters to get you involved. Once again a film shows restraint and
offers complete entertainment showing that it can be done.
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