Review: Captive State

Several years after aliens invaded Earth and a large population of its inhabitants capitulated to them, a resistance seems to be emerging. There is talk of a political assassination, and police commander John Goodman is investigating matters. Vera Farmiga plays a literal Jane Doe, Alan Ruck is a former teacher, D.B. Sweeney (remember him?) and a rather gaunt-looking Kevin J. O’Connor play two of Goodman’s cohorts.

 

The reviews for this 2019 alien invasion film from director Rupert Wyatt (“Rise of the Planet of the Apes”, the not-bad remake of “The Gambler”) and co-writer Erica Beeney (“The Battle of Shaker Heights”) have been pretty poor. I hadn’t heard a good word said about it, but from the moment I saw the aliens I knew that at the very least this film had gotten one thing right. The budget limitations on the FX are evident (thankfully the aliens are largely seen in darkness and scarcely), but I admire any alien invasion film that gives us alien creatures who don’t look readily identifiable/familiar to the human eye. Usually they look like little green/grey men or some kind of Xenomorph or “Predator” rip-off, but thankfully that’s not the case here for the most part. If aliens do/did exist, I honestly don’t think they’d look like anything our tiny little minds could comprehend. I also admire any film that has the aliens pretty much taking over before the end of the opening credits. I mean, if that’s our entry point…where the hell is this story gonna go? I loved that, it was fairly fresh. The prologue text is actually genuinely chilling, as it seems like the aliens have already won and America won’t be able to save the day for once. Obviously one feels it’s unlikely to stay in such a bleak lane before the film’s end, but still I enjoyed the effort nonetheless. The difference from the norm doesn’t stop with just the alien design, either. Unlike the usual alien invasion flick, this one plays much more like an espionage film for the most part, which I thought was really interesting and unique. Bear in mind though, that I’m the guy who liked “Skyline” and genuinely believes that “War of the Worlds” is one of Steven Spielberg’s best latter-day films, so your mileage may wildly differ. Eventually Wyatt and Beeney do follow a slightly more traditional ‘humans fight back’ beat here, and it’s a bit of a shame they didn’t quite have the balls to keep playing things so bleak, but to be fair I’m not sure how many people would really want to see that nihilistic vision aside from myself. At least by adopting more of an espionage/mystery vibe the filmmakers were telling the familiar story in a very unfamiliar way.

 

One thing I wasn’t so keen on was that I felt the presence of the aliens wasn’t as consistently felt after the opening so as to maintain the tension or a sense of danger throughout. Also, the alien hunters we get towards the end are the one unoriginal depiction of aliens in the film – they’re kinda “Predator” knock-offs. That’s all small stuff though. The big idea here is an interesting one – do you stay under alien control or join a resistance fight back against your oppressors?. Many would capitulate, hell it seems like many here did. The political themes are unsubtle and amusing – almost “Simpsons”-esque, actually. The aliens are referred to as ‘Legislators’. There’s a particularly funny bit where one cowardly sell-out starts singing ‘Glory, glory Hallelujah’ in anticipation of the aliens arrival, which is priceless. Kevin Dunn’s Commissioner talking about democracy vs. anarchy in relation to an alien invasion is very funny too. Or at least it tickled my funny bone. But behind the humour, there’s a kind of fear and recognition that (assuming an alien invasion were to be real, of course) such capitulation and cowardice is not exactly surprising. Whether the humans win or lose here, the large majority of humans on show here are depicted awfully bleakly and cynically. It’s interesting stuff, and it makes for a much better film than its reputation suggests. In fact, the only real complaint from me is that it could stand to play out a little more coherently at times. However, if you’re patient it will all fall into place. Even the ending, which baffled and disappointed me for a moment, sunk in within a few minutes after the film’s conclusion. I still don’t think it’s perfectly executed, but I at least understand what they were going for there and like the idea of it. As for the cast, whilst Vera Farmiga is pretty poorly wasted, John Goodman shows off his versatility here in a role that is probably best seen for yourself rather than my spoiling the details.

 

Full marks for presenting something rather tired and played out in a fairly unique and relatively untravelled manner (“V” is the closest comparison I can think of). This alien invasion story might not have a very large budget, nor an always easy to follow narrative, but it’s intriguing and a little bit different. It’s nothing great, but I think this one might get a re-appraisal in the years to come as it’s far better than its reputation.

 

Rating: B-