Life of Kyle Prohaska

Well…I just got back from seeing District nine, and I must say it’s the best film I’ve seen all year, perhaps more than that.  I found the film very emotionally arresting, much more so than you’d think given the previews and such they’ve been showing on TV.  The biggest surprise of the movie was the lead characters performance, which I felt was one of the strongest on-screen performances I have seen in a while.  Sharlto Copley is an unknown actor, with virtually no credits at all…but nobody in the theater cared.  His performance was really good, and while others were laughing at certain moments of the film (for whatever reason), I felt nothing but compassion for this man and his situation.  The same goes for the aliens.  It’s odd to start feeling sympathy for something you know is absolutely fake.  Everything an alien was mistreated, shot, beat up, etc. I found myself wincing in my seat, angry at their attackers.

The documentary style of the film was a great way to add realism.  It felt like a real event, unfolding slowly but at a pace you put up with because of the nature of the way it’s shot.  You discover things right along with the characters, and even though there is cutting back and forth between different segments, interviews, etc. for some reason you never feel like you leave the main character of Wikus.

Almost every part of the film to me felt serious, real, complex, and powerful.  I chuckled maybe once in the film, even though I realized the more humorous bits when they came along.  I really found myself feeling sad and concerned in what was going on.  The idea of being thrown out of society, treated like an animal, fearing for your life, doing whatever you can to survive, having people that you thought loved you reject you instead, etc.  It was all very relatable and heart wrenching if you really gave it some thought.  I think they left a lot up to you to feel and didn’t throw it in your face which made a big difference.

In terms of gore and language, the film is very R-rated.  There was a lot of F bombs and more exploding bodies and blood than a typical zombie movie.  I was surprised at the violence and gore but it had it’s purpose and filled it.  I would be lying if I said waking up and having alien anatomy forming on me, and being unable to stop it would result in anything but an F-bomb.  The brutal nature of the film really made the story and emotional connection that much stronger.  We’re really one crappy species, humans.  We can be so dang evil and wicked and careless.  This film felt like Amistad for Sci-Fi fans.

The special effects of the film were all over the place from great, to bad.  A lot of the opening shots of the film with aliens in it felt very video game and pasted in there while other shots up close to an alien felt very real.  I think it was the lighting on them more often than not.  This film is a motion trackers nightmare, much like Cloverfield was.  The amount of time to do the tracking in this film must have been insane.

The ending of the film was one of the greatest setups for a sequel I’ve ever seen.  I’m not talking about the story really, because it’s easy to leave people with a cliffhanger, but in this case they really leave you emotionally invested.  They were careful not to leave closure where you can leave not wanting anything else.  I can’t wait for the next one.

I’m extremely impressed with how this film delivered and I hope it gets the recognition it deserves.

4 / 5