I love it when movies take familiar topics and put a spin on things. It shows that you don’t have to be wholly original to make a compelling film, but simply telling it from a unique perspective can somehow make it still feel original. That is the beauty of the new sci-fi film Proximity, from director Eric Demeusy, that takes a different spin on the topic of alien abduction.
While many alien abduction films have been made in the past, most have been rather terrible and are either trying to be overly scary or funny in their approach to the topic. Instead, Proximity has a strong psychological angle to it as it follows a young NASA scientist (Ryan Masson) who is abducted by aliens and is finds himself on a journey to discover the truth behind what happened to him. Leading to what only appears to be a possible government conspiracy, cover-ups and potentially even bigger philosophical questions that make this movie look like its worth watching, even if it probably doesn’t get you pulse racing in terms of excitement:
The film might be small in scale, but Demeusy shows off his expertise in working as a VFX artist on films such as TRON: Legacy and Pacific Rim to still make Proximity look good with the brief parts that do feature visual effects. The film certainly seems to evoke some of the mystery and wonderment that made Spielberg classics like E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind so special, though possibly not as clever as those two films. Still, it looks like it has loads of potential.
Proximity also stars Highdee Kuan, Christian Prentice, Shaw Jones, and Don Scribner and is scheduled for release to on-demand and streaming services on May 15.
Last Updated: April 16, 2020
