2024 movie #26. 2022. Something weird is going on in the sky above their horse farm, so the brother-sister team decide to get photos and hopefully get rich. More a horror movie, IMHO, than SF, but pretty good if kind of slow moving in parts. #78 on Rolling Stones Top 150 Science Fiction Movies. ( )

A film starring Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer (Universal, 2022).

A couple horse trainers want to get footage of a UFO.

A (Great).

I don't usually like horror movies; that said, a surprising number of the movies I love are horror movies. This is one of those - very much in the "Jaws" and "Alien" category of Scary Movies For People Who Don't Like Scary Movies. It's intense and disturbing, but also fun and intelligent.

(Jul. 2023) ( )

The Haywood family trains and handles horses for television and film productions. There's been less and less demand for their horses and expertise, and after Otis Haywood Sr. is killed by a freak accident involving falling objects from a plane, things are looking even more bleak. His son OJ has resorted to selling several of the family's horses to Jupiter's Claim, a nearby theme park, although he hopes to one day buy them back.

OJ's sister, Em, sees an opportunity for the family to get fame and recognition when she and her brother realize that there's something weird hanging out in the skies near their ranch. They figure it's some kind of UFO, and if they can just get good video footage of it before anyone else finds out about it, they'll be set for life. However, it's not quite that easy, and there's a bit more to the situation than they initially realize.

Of the three movies Jordan Peele has directed, this one is, in my opinion, the weakest. It meandered for what felt like ages before finally including a few jaw-dropping "Jean Jacket" scenes and then just...ending. There were a few really good moments, but overall I felt like I wasted 2 hours.

I wasn't sure what I was supposed to get out of any of this, other than a few "Whoa, that's amazing" moments and the general "animals are not people" message. It had several chillingly moments, but those moments didn't come together into an effective whole. Like, the Gordy flashbacks were horrific, but it was harder than it should have been to see how they fit into the broader story.

In general, it took way too long for this movie to get to the point.

Extras:

Gag reel, deleted scenes, featurettes.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) ( )