Review: Aliens Abducted My Parents and Now I Feel Kinda Left Out @ BIFFF

Calvin and his dad have set up the telescope and are ready to observe a comet set to whizz by Earth later that evening. Right before le moment suprême, however, a bright light illuminates the night sky and by the time it’s gone, Calvin’s parents have disappeared without a trace. Ten years later Itsy and her family move into town much to her dismay. She’s eager to get right back out of there as soon as possible and seizes an opportunity in the form of a contest where the first prize would land her a ticket to New York, but which entails her getting acquainted with Calvin who in the aftermath of the traumatic experience he went through as a young child has become somewhat of the village weirdo. He appears to be driven solely by sheer dedication to re-establish contact with his missing parents which inevitably has had an impact on his social life.

As they spend more time together, Itsy soon discovers the town might have been misguided in their judgement of this seemingly eccentric recluse and finds herself increasingly drawn to his disarming charisma and childlike purity. Shocking, right? I know. Basically, it’s 10 Things I hate about You but wrapped in a wonderous blanket of Spielbergian magic. We’re about 20’ in at this point and it’s quite clear that the movie will be brazenly relying on various established tropes when it comes to the story and character development. That said, it totally gets away with it thanks to a strong execution and what it ultimately manages to achieve with it in the grand scheme of things. The second act is classic teen romcom stuff intertwined with further snippets of the sci-fi mystery drama set up in the opening sequence which had already successfully pulled on some heartstrings early on. But then the third act comes along refocussing on said mystery and you sort of expect it to go either of two ways. And then it kind of goes both but in so doing it unexpectedly ventures a bit further into surprisingly profound themes and even pulls off a highly satisfying finale which slapped me right in the feels again.

Lest it not be clear. This film is super cheesy, and at times quite silly too. But at its core there is an endearing innocence and wholesome sense of adventure which made it utterly adorable from beginning to end. I found myself deeply invested and was unmistakably moved when the credits came rolling. The enthusiastic and highly responsive audience during this particular screening at the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival certainly added some flavour to the dish as well, although the bitter old man in me can’t say that he found all of those shenanigans to have been entirely necessary. Nevertheless, a thoroughly enjoyable evening at BIFFF and a movie I will most definitely be revisiting as soon as I can.