“I looked up and there it was, just hovering, a giant black triangle…”
Only one more day left of SciFi London 2020, I’m so sad! I decided to only watch one feature film today after four straight days of science fiction, so I hope you enjoy this review of the second science fiction film of the day, Skyman.
Skyman, directed by Daniel Myrick (who was co-Director of the cult classic supernatural horror, The Blair Witch Project) is a documentary style film following Carl Merryweather who is famous in his town for having made contact with an alien. This alien supposedly spoke to him telepathically when he was 10 years old. The film starts 30 years later and interviews Carl, his family and people in the town to hear the story and see if there is any truth to it. Carl talks about his experience and describes the meeting, that he heard a low hum which he has heard multiple times since the interaction and that the alien had told him not to be afraid, that it was looking for someone like him. The film later follows him as he goes about his life, visiting family, at a UFO convention and while he is creating tech with a friend to help capture what he describes will be a return of the alien. He is convinced this will happen on his 40th birthday.
The fictional docu-makers don’t offer up their own critical perspective of Carl, but rather leave it totally open for viewers to make up their own minds. The style of this movie is quite DIY looking and at times appears quite rough like it’s made with a camcorder, but this add to the charm of the film. The ending of the film appears conclusive as to if Carl was right or not – but I won’t spoil the ending for you…
There’s not much to say about this movie. I really enjoyed it. It’s not a complicated film, with a complicated plot, but it was just done superbly. I didn’t stay for the Q&A this time unfortunately, so I missed what the director said of the film, but I loved that Carl wasn’t painted to be the ‘town idiot’ like many abduction type films out there. He seemed quite competent, and his resolute belief wasn’t creepy. It was endearing and almost childlike. I found myself wanting to believe too, for Carl’s sake.. I think that perhaps he had been stuck in the past his whole life, stuck in that moment when he was 10 years old, so his childlike, excited nature really came through in this film. Like even the fact he calls the alien a Skyman is something that a ten year old would do. An adult would call it an alien, but children say it like they see it. He came from the sky, he was a man (as far as young Carl knows) so he is SKYMAN.
So yeah, excellent film. Really glad to have seem it. Very endearing, well done film. Definitely, definitely go check it out.
For more info about the film, go here.
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