This sifi film with aliens living in a slum in Johannisburg is quite original. The plot is inventive, though the script comes across a bit crude. I feel like there were many opportunities to draw parallels between the events on screen and past or present situations in the real world, but any hint at a reflection on actual history was quickly disfigured by the illogical extremes the people in the film went to.
The main character benefited from excellent casting – Sharlton Copley pulled off the dumb-looking paper-pusher just as well as the disillusioned and traumatised victim – but is not someone to get behind easily. Still, he is interesting. At first, it’s easy to mistake him for a half-wit who just loves to live by the rules, but he soon displays competence. However, even after suffering trauma and a reality check regarding the true nature of his employer, he does not magically turn into a good person. He still follows questionable motivations that in his head clearly seem completely natural. Only at the very end of the film does he begin to truly change – in more ways than one. It’s refreshing to see an anti-hero lead the story, someone you not quite hate but also don’t feel particularly drawn to.
The other characters in the film suffer from bad writing. All of them just seem inhuman, and it makes you wonder whether this whole situation with the alien “guests” and constantly being surrounded by crime in South Africa made them that way, or if it’s just incompetent writing. The aliens don’t make much sense at all. They seem of fairly low intelligence, which makes the one smart individual seem very incongruous. Still, low intelligence or not, they are clearly sentient, so it does not make any sense at all why there are no diplomatic efforts under way.
The visuals were remarkable, particularly considering this film is a staggering 11 years old! They chose a colour palette and a type of grainy filter that masked the CGI and creature effects very well making everything blend together perfectly. Good editing and prosthetics did the rest. Certainly a technically challenging project, but they took it on with great success. The only bit I could really have done without was the copious and gory violence.
A difficult piece to judge. Surprising in its originality, impressive in its visual execution, but with a story that did not really seem to fulfil its potential and puzzling characters that prevent the audience from truly empathising. 4/5 for effort.
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