UFO is a 2018 science fiction film about a college student, who sees a UFO, and uses his exceptional math skills to investigate the sighting with his friends while the FBI follows closely behind.
I’ve always appreciated sci-fi movies a bit more than most other genres, drawn to its ability to so comfortably house wondrous techno-fantasies in far off galaxies with space adventures and laser fights on one end and heavy, authentic, true-science-driven narratives that confound the brain on the other. Of the latter, I’ve found over my long love of movies, that while these are a rarer bunch, they tend to be very satisfying, filmmakers relying far more on practical and ‘intelligent’ approaches to finding solutions. Not all work of course, many bogged down in the mechanics of it all, but I greatly appreciate the efforts.
Now comes Ryan Eslinger‘s latest, the simple but evocatively-named UFO, a curious endeavour that is absolutely primed with possibilities, though seemingly outright trying as hard as it can to avoid any standards in alien arrival movies, making it unique for sure, but in the process perhaps out of touch for many not knowing what they are in for when giving it a chance.
Taking place in the present, it begins with a ‘sighting’ at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport where hundreds witness what appears to be a circular disc floating just below the clouds (stay tuned to the end credits for some intriguing backstory). It gets a load of press coverage where a bright math student named Derek Echevaro (Alex Sharp) notes a few inaccuracies in the official explanation, especially some off-hand calculations that don’t add up. Alex is not one to let things go, and driven by a past experience takes the investigation into own hands, enlisting the help of his best friend Natalie (Ella Purnell) and mathematics professor Dr. Hendricks (Gillian Anderson). However, so too is the FBI, led by special agent Franklin Ahls (David Strathairn), who is running his own inquisition, both into the UFO and Alex himself, perhaps finding a key to what really happened and more importantly, what’s coming.
Working with a limited budget, Eslinger, who wrote the script, UFO is not an epic visual-effects-driven film, the story centering more on discovery and complicated, math-laden exposition than eye-popping sci-fi imagery. For math geeks, it’s a pot-of-gold as the screen is often a cluster of equations and formulas that show Derek working to uncover the mystery while Franklin hedges closer. Admittedly, there is a level of suspense in the slow reveal, hovering closely to Derek’s mounting obsession, which of course we understand is entirely accurate. Eslinger’s method is to treat the sighting as a series of madenning mathematical equational hoops that Derek becomes hopelessly ensnared within, and while that has appeal, you should understand that this is also the film’s singular thematic device.
If you know anything about what a fine structure constant is or have even a passing interest in quantum theory, there are moments here that will offer up some real mental tingles. Knowing that, you’ll probably also recognize that few films have made any success using math as a major plot point – Good Will Hunting aside – and I suspect UFO won’t make much of a splash, the title alone a monster bait and switch for those hoping to seeing something along the lines of Fire in the Sky or even Close Encounters of the Third Kind. It’s not either of these. Nor should it be.
I most like the intelligence of the characters in UFO, and how, despite the setup, there are no antagonists, Franklin a passionate, scientifically-driven man who is himself trying to unravel what is happening while dedicated to national interests. This is a film heavy in conversation and a wee bit of inspiration, that not just relishes its dialogue, but swims in it with glee. While much of it is interesting, if not entirely out of reach for most, it’s often flat, a constant rising hum from the score teasing that something big is coming. What does is not what you think. This is sort of experimental and no doubt Eslinger understands his audience is a specific sort. This won’t at all be for everyone, and while I recommend this tentatively as such, for fans of cinematic heavy thinkers (count me one), this will have some punch.