(Editor’s Note: This film features friend of the pod and former guest on Cinepunx Annapurna Sriram who you might know better as the director and star of FUCKTOYS. She is family at this point so we would be remiss to not mention her presence in the film, sorry to interject Justin)
Alien invasion is one of the oldest and scariest themes in the realm of the horror film, be it the earnestly bad films of yore like Invasion Of The Saucer Men, The Blob, or Invasion Of The Body Snatchers or the grim masterpieces like John Carpenter’s The Thing, The Faculty and the (superior) Chuck Russell remake of The Blob. Alice Maio Mackey’s Our Effed Up World is a spin on this classic formula, telling an intimate and small scale story about empathy and humanity in the face of an insidious extraterrestrial threat.
Sheri doesn’t need any more bullshit on her plate. She’s got a shitty, inattentive boyfriend and the recent loss of her beloved grandmother is weighing heavily on her. When a meteorite lands in the nearby woods and it becomes clear that something is amiss in Sheri’s small community its up to her and her band of scrappy oddball friends to stop an insidious invasion bent on wiping out humanity.
I know this sounds like four bajillion movies made before this, but where Mackey’s story shines is where most of their stories excel: the idea that no one is coming to save us so we must save ourselves. There’s nothing approaching an authority figure to help them out, save maybe Sheri’s loveably out of touch astronomer father. It’s quite literally Sheri and her friends vs. an extraterrestrial threat seemingly designed to kill people. In other words, it’s the power of comradery and friendship that Mackey sees as the ultimate good in the world.
Much like the rest of their catalog, this film has a lo fi sheen that feels more like a deliberate choice instead of a necessity. That’s not to the detriment of the film; rather, it’s part of the charm of Mackey’s filmography as a whole, a kind of punk aesthetic that celebrates that DIY ethic in filmmaking.
Another albeit small element of this film that goes beyond your typical alien invasion movie is an examination of the nature of empathy. At one point, Sheri’s father postulates that since the alien absorbs the qualities of its prey, perhaps it has learned about and developed a sense of empathy, an understanding about the desires of things that aren’t it or like it. This seemingly throwaway line has ramifications later in the film, and while it isn’t much it adds a spice to the story that makes it stand out amongst a crowded field.
If you enjoy Mackey’s work, you’re gonna love this film. It’s got everything audiences have come to expect and enjoy about their films. Dare I say this might be most mature film to date from them? I dare say that given some of the subtext and how it fits in seamlessly with Mackey’s vision of a hostile alien takeover. See this movie if you can. You won’t be let down.
