I love it when a plan goes together. Last month Dawn, Terry, and I decided on a date for our next group effort at a movie review. The week that we have been having it on didn't work for me this time around because next Sunday will be my birthday and I don't know if I will have any other plans for that day yet. So, we decided to move it up a week, this week actually. It was Dawn's turn to pick a movie and after finding out I had already watched some of the movies she was interested in, she settled on They Look Like People (2015). After I finished my last review, I jumped right into this movie. It is also time for my Netflix instant watch movie, which this one is, so I get to kill two birds with one stone for once.
Christian (Evan Dumouchel) is trying to change his life for the better. He has been trying to work harder, get into shape and is trying hard to build up the courage to ask his boss Mara (Margaret Ying Drake) out on a date. At last, he does so and gets a date with Mara. On his way home, he runs into his old friend Wyatt (MacLeod Andrews). After talking for a bit, Christian invites Wyatt up to his place to get out of the cold. Christian learns that Wyatt doesn't have a place to stay and is ready to give up his date Mara, but the two friends end up on a double date instead. That night, Wyatt gets a phone call from someone that has been calling Wyatt in order to prepare him for a war that will happen soon. Wyatt believes that aliens are infecting humans somehow and becoming the host. Is that really the case or does Wyatt need some help?
They Look Like People was written and directed by Perry Blackshear. This makes Blackshear's first full-length film and it was pretty impressive at times. I remember hearing about this film when it first came out. People had mostly good things to say about it, but I just never got around to it until now. Since that time, there seems to be a love/hate relationship with this film for fans. It has averaged out around the middle of the road ratings now, or just above them, which I think I agree with. I rated They Look Like People on Letterboxd before I started this review and I struggled with how I wanted to rate it. Since I don't give half-star ratings, I couldn't decide which end to settle on. I almost gave it a half star on Letterboxd but decided against it. That is really where I feel this film should be at, three and a half stars. Usually, when I feel this way about a film, I will round up and give it the higher rating, but I didn't feel right about doing that this time around. Allow me to explain.
They Look Like People centers around the two friends with Wyatt being the source of the tension for the story. Blackshear gives us two ways that the story will end, to make it simple at least, either Wyatt is right or there is something wrong with his mind. I suppose there could have been more options, but I didn't feel that way after a certain point in the story. Blackshear does a pretty good job of keeping us guessing as to what is truly going on. There is one key thing that happens more than once that I thought tipped the scale the entire way for one argument. I'm not going to say what that was here, as it would spoil the story, but I will probably bring it up during my chat with Dawn and Terry, which I will try to link at the bottom of this review once it is posted. So, from that point on, it wasn't a question to me if Wyatt was crazy or not, but how far will he go? The voice on the phone is telling Wyatt that no one can be trusted, not even friends or family. Wyatt may have to kill them if he thinks they have been taken over, but will he be able to? That seemed to be the real question that Blackshear was building up to. When the time comes for Wyatt to decide, that was the most intense scene of the film and the whole reason I nearly gave it a four-star rating.
They Look Like People is a slow burn of a film. The story is mostly about the two friends becoming friends once again while we catch a glimpse of what is happening with Wyatt here and there. Mara isn't around as much but still plays an important part in it all. There isn't a lot of character development that goes on, but Blackshear makes up for that by making Christian and Wyatt fun characters. I have to admit that Christian has a weird sense of humor at times that I was never sure how to take. It was fun seeing the two friends bonding again and reliving some of their childhood. On the other side of things, I didn't care for the way the film was edited at times. Scenes feel like they change before one is finished, even cutting things off mid-sentence. Maybe this by design? I had to assume it was, but I found it annoying.
There isn't a whole lot of special effects to be found here. Nothing gory, but I believe some CGI was used to give the eyes and smile a weird look to them sometimes. It was an interesting effect, to say the least. There is some blood like we see a pool of blood around someone's hands at one point. The transformation that may or may not be happening to left up to your imagination for the most part. The acting seems to get mixed reviews but I thought it was pretty strong here. I liked both Evan Dumouchel and MacLeod Andrews as they do come across as being friends. I also liked Margaret Ying Drake a lot as well.
I thought that there are some unanswered questions with The Look Like People by the end of it. Wyatt seems very nervous at one point, so I was wondering what happened after his talk with someone. I wanted to take Wyatt's word on what happened, but it was a little hard to at that point. It was things like that and things above that I talked about as well that kept me from giving this movie a higher rating. In some ways, I hated to give it a lower rating, but I had to go with it in the end. Despite my average rating, I really want to stress that this is a movie worth checking out. That scene towards the end between the two friends in the basement makes the whole movie worth a watch in my opinion. That was tension done to perfection. Give this one a look if you haven't already! You can check out Dawn's and Terry's reviews by clicking on the links.
3 out of 5 So what if I hear voices that aren't there?!?
Christian (Evan Dumouchel) is trying to change his life for the better. He has been trying to work harder, get into shape and is trying hard to build up the courage to ask his boss Mara (Margaret Ying Drake) out on a date. At last, he does so and gets a date with Mara. On his way home, he runs into his old friend Wyatt (MacLeod Andrews). After talking for a bit, Christian invites Wyatt up to his place to get out of the cold. Christian learns that Wyatt doesn't have a place to stay and is ready to give up his date Mara, but the two friends end up on a double date instead. That night, Wyatt gets a phone call from someone that has been calling Wyatt in order to prepare him for a war that will happen soon. Wyatt believes that aliens are infecting humans somehow and becoming the host. Is that really the case or does Wyatt need some help?
They Look Like People was written and directed by Perry Blackshear. This makes Blackshear's first full-length film and it was pretty impressive at times. I remember hearing about this film when it first came out. People had mostly good things to say about it, but I just never got around to it until now. Since that time, there seems to be a love/hate relationship with this film for fans. It has averaged out around the middle of the road ratings now, or just above them, which I think I agree with. I rated They Look Like People on Letterboxd before I started this review and I struggled with how I wanted to rate it. Since I don't give half-star ratings, I couldn't decide which end to settle on. I almost gave it a half star on Letterboxd but decided against it. That is really where I feel this film should be at, three and a half stars. Usually, when I feel this way about a film, I will round up and give it the higher rating, but I didn't feel right about doing that this time around. Allow me to explain.
They Look Like People centers around the two friends with Wyatt being the source of the tension for the story. Blackshear gives us two ways that the story will end, to make it simple at least, either Wyatt is right or there is something wrong with his mind. I suppose there could have been more options, but I didn't feel that way after a certain point in the story. Blackshear does a pretty good job of keeping us guessing as to what is truly going on. There is one key thing that happens more than once that I thought tipped the scale the entire way for one argument. I'm not going to say what that was here, as it would spoil the story, but I will probably bring it up during my chat with Dawn and Terry, which I will try to link at the bottom of this review once it is posted. So, from that point on, it wasn't a question to me if Wyatt was crazy or not, but how far will he go? The voice on the phone is telling Wyatt that no one can be trusted, not even friends or family. Wyatt may have to kill them if he thinks they have been taken over, but will he be able to? That seemed to be the real question that Blackshear was building up to. When the time comes for Wyatt to decide, that was the most intense scene of the film and the whole reason I nearly gave it a four-star rating.
They Look Like People is a slow burn of a film. The story is mostly about the two friends becoming friends once again while we catch a glimpse of what is happening with Wyatt here and there. Mara isn't around as much but still plays an important part in it all. There isn't a lot of character development that goes on, but Blackshear makes up for that by making Christian and Wyatt fun characters. I have to admit that Christian has a weird sense of humor at times that I was never sure how to take. It was fun seeing the two friends bonding again and reliving some of their childhood. On the other side of things, I didn't care for the way the film was edited at times. Scenes feel like they change before one is finished, even cutting things off mid-sentence. Maybe this by design? I had to assume it was, but I found it annoying.
There isn't a whole lot of special effects to be found here. Nothing gory, but I believe some CGI was used to give the eyes and smile a weird look to them sometimes. It was an interesting effect, to say the least. There is some blood like we see a pool of blood around someone's hands at one point. The transformation that may or may not be happening to left up to your imagination for the most part. The acting seems to get mixed reviews but I thought it was pretty strong here. I liked both Evan Dumouchel and MacLeod Andrews as they do come across as being friends. I also liked Margaret Ying Drake a lot as well.
I thought that there are some unanswered questions with The Look Like People by the end of it. Wyatt seems very nervous at one point, so I was wondering what happened after his talk with someone. I wanted to take Wyatt's word on what happened, but it was a little hard to at that point. It was things like that and things above that I talked about as well that kept me from giving this movie a higher rating. In some ways, I hated to give it a lower rating, but I had to go with it in the end. Despite my average rating, I really want to stress that this is a movie worth checking out. That scene towards the end between the two friends in the basement makes the whole movie worth a watch in my opinion. That was tension done to perfection. Give this one a look if you haven't already! You can check out Dawn's and Terry's reviews by clicking on the links.
3 out of 5 So what if I hear voices that aren't there?!?
