It should come as no surprise that UFOs seen in the State of Utah are more visible than elsewhere. It should be known as Alien Central than Alien Country–the title of this film. Whether that’s because it’s where free famous ecological landmarks converge–The Rocky Mountains, the Great Basin, and the Colorado Plateau–or something else, it seems the fictional town of Blue River is the focus. In this film directed by Boston McConnaughey, I get the sense he wanted to deal more with the rednecks drama going on here than the aliens, which are often kept away at arms length until those moments matter.
That’s because of the drama that’s happening between Jimmy (K.C. Clyde) and Everly (co-writer Renny Grames), whose on-again/off-again relationship is very front and centre. She’s pregnant, and he can’t figure out what she wants. When she wants to make it big as a singer-songwriter, all he cares about is to survive the next crash and burn. Also, he has abandonment issues. His father disappeared when he was young.
These days, he’s a demolition derby driver and considering he’s putting his life at risk every-day, I’m sure his girlfriend wants him to change careers. It took a while for me to get invested in their drama, but once that’s in place, that’s when the fun starts. They accidentally open a portal to some world, and when the aliens come busting out, it’s up to them to save their town from this invasion!
And as for who has the answers, my money is on the latter. She’s been keeping tabs on these aliens for 40 years. When the action finally gets a lot more intense, this movie feels familiar. There’s not only Tremors but also The Triangle (mostly in the poster design). Although the latter was a miniseries concerning how interstellar travel works and missing people, what’s presented here is different.
As for what makes this film work is that it deals with giving the two major leads a sense of closure. The sequence of events that unfold only helps bring them closure instead of taking too much of the centre stage. But ultimately, I feel the tale focuses more on Elle, which is fine, since she wants to be a star, after all.
3½ Stars out of 5
Alien Country Movie Trailer
