“Into the Sky,” co-written and directed by Evan Buxbaum and Drew Mylrea, is a weird, funny little sci-fi comedy that mostly succeeds because it never takes the expected route.
Bobby (Sam Richardson) just wants to repair his marriage, but every time he seems close to getting his life back together, he is abducted by aliens. He wakes up naked in random places, covered in mysterious blue goo with no memory of what happened. Things get even more complicated when his estranged wife leaves town and rents their cabin to Nico (Sofia Black-D’Elia), an impulsive event planner. Things get even more strange when Bobby meets Jaden (David Cross), a fellow abductee whose interest in him quickly becomes unsettling.
The setup is ridiculous of course, but the movie gets a lot of mileage out of its premise. The tone is playful without being completely weightless, blending romance, alien weirdness, existential frustration, and just enough body horror to keep things unpredictable. Richardson and Black-D’Elia have a natural chemistry, and the performances feel relaxed and relatable rather than overly polished. Their performances carry the film (as does Cross, who deserves a ton of credit for stealing nearly every scene he’s in).
The film does become somewhat unfocused as it moves along, though. It struggles to juggle the failing marriage, wedding planning, alien abductions, cosmic mysteries, and darker material without fully committing to any one of them with much confidence. The third act also exposes the limitations of the indie budget, with some rough-looking CGI that takes away from what should be the biggest moments. I never expect polished special effects in small indie projects, but this film would have been much better without the bad CGI.
Still, those flaws are fairly easy to forgive. “Into the Sky” runs about 90 minutes, moves quickly, and has enough personality to carry it through its rough patches. This may be an uneven film, but it is creative, genuinely funny, and strange enough to make the ride worthwhile.
By: Louisa Moore
