Available on Amazon PrimeZach Green could’ve easily made a film about two hasbeens getting abducted by aliens and through that experience, maybe get a second chance at life. Instead, what’s presented in Foil deals with how these two realise that they don’t have to live up to what others expect of them. When they go looking for the meaning of life in the middle of the desert, what they discover is a bit like Monty Python.
Usually, movie titles offer a hint at what to expect, and this work is a strange beast because I wasn’t sure what to expect. Here, most of the story is fixated on Rex (Devin O’Rourke) and Dexter (Green) as they hope to experience some 70s magic; that is, they hope to get some “Kum ba yah” going in the most hilarious way possible. When the former is a UFO nut who wants to be taken away and the latter, a failed filmmaker with no Hollywood cred to his name, both are ready to leave it all behind so they can start anew.
The two are out here in search of a psychic vortex rumoured to exist here. Sadly, this film doesn’t make any mention of The Integration at Joshua Tree National Park, but had it, I’d be fascinated with any idea Green might have come up with. Although the story notes they’re headed somewhere away from Bakersfield, they’re nowhere near the neighbouring national parks.
Whether this filmmaker knew about this spiritual space doesn’t seem to matter, as what these misfit leads are after is something different. They’re on a journey of self-discovery that will eventually see them bumping into other strange forces. I wished who they met were actually future versions of themselves, but that’s not where this movie goes. I wouldn’t say the finale is a huge twist on the concept, but it’s decent enough where we get dialogue from the other beings explaining why they’re here in the first place and the reveal isn’t too different from the New Zealand stoner comedy Alien Addiction. (movie review)
Even though there’s little exposition to explain why these “Little Green Men” (that’s not how they look) ended up here, I hoped Rex and Dexter would meet a version of themselves from the future that would cause a paradox. That would’ve been just as twisted, and what they learn from them can either be very Bill and Ted. However, what’s revealed won’t be any lessons folks will remember or take home here. As an indie film which I chanced upon and forgot, the only thing going for it is that Green can try making another film that’ll be a winner instead of him saying, “Rats, foiled again.”
2 Stars out of 5
Foil Movie Trailer
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