Presumably,
it would be expensive for extraterrestrial civilizations to attempt first
contact or more ominously engage in abductions or even an invasion. Therefore,
they need a darned good reason. Just messing with the listeners of Coast to
Coast A.M. isn’t sufficient. It turns out there is a reason the Gray People
have been popping-in on Earth and it makes for a heck of a third act revelation
in director-screenwriter Eric Demeusy’s Proximity, which releases this
Friday on VOD.
Isaac
Cypress has a cool job with very little responsibility at NASA’s JPL facility, but
he never really seriously considers the possibility of intelligent alien life,
until he encounters it first-hand, losing three days in the process. As luck
would have it, he happened to be filming a video diary during his abduction-encounter,
so he has proof—sort of. Rather rashly, he posts his footage online, where it
quickly goes viral. Much to his frustration, most of the subsequent media
attention focuses on attempts to debunk him. However, it also allows him to connect
with Sara, an attractive fellow abductee, who should be well out of his league.
Of course, it also brings him to the attention of the UN’s evil Men-in-Black
agency.
After
escaping from the clutches of the UN’s MIB and their Tron-like motorcycle-driving
androids, Cypress and Sara seek the help of Carl Miesner, a reclusive former
abductee who has been monitoring alien transmissions and may have made contact.
To get from Costa Rica (the site of the UN’s secret facility) to Miesner’s
secret transmitter in British Columbia, they enlist the help of Zed, an
off-the-grid hippy hacker.
In
some ways, Proximity is obviously derivative of MIB, The X-Files,
and maybe even WarGames a little. Plus, the score often sounds
transparently “borrowed” from John Williams’ “Imperial Marches” from the Star
Wars franchise. Yet, Demeusy has some huge surprises teed-up for viewers
that you absolutely will not see coming. In fact, it is totally shocking where
it goes, because it does not telegraph that inclination. It is actually really
cool, but more narrow-minded audiences are likely to have a problem with it. It
is also quite refreshing to see the villainous Men-in-Black are not Feds, but
work for the United Nations (it also makes more sense, considering the
lawlessness of UN “peace-keepers”).
Ryan
Masson is appropriately twitchy and awkward as Cypress. Rather problematically,
the character of Sara is largely superfluous to the overall narrative arc, but
Highdee Kuan still develops some likable chemistry with Masson. Shaw Jones
makes a rather bland villain as Agent Graves, their lead pursuer/tormentor.
Fortunately, Don Scribner and Christian Prentice add a lot of color and energy
as Miesner and Zed, respectively.
Proximity is a bit of an
up-and-down film. The first third pretty realistically depicts what could
result in our hyper-online world after posting an alien abduction video. The
mid-section is mostly conventional MIB stuff, but during the final third,
Demeusy claims territory all his own. Frankly, Proximity would probably
be most enjoyed by audiences in Middle America and Sunbelt states who will be most
suspicious of it—and least appreciated by regular sf conspiracy mongers, which
is because it manages to find a take on familiar alien abduction/contact themes
that is fresh and different. Recommended for science fiction fans with open
minds, Proximity releases this Friday (5/15) on VOD platforms, including
iTunes.
