Beyond the Sky (2018) User Reviews (48)

A decent alien abduction film that suffered from some bad choices.

[lord-blade · 6/10 · 6 October 2018]

Overall, I'd say Beyond the Sky is a pretty good alien abduction film. But a few blunders here and there stop it from getting a better score.

The movie makes use of some "cam shots", as it's basically following a video "journalist" (more of a blogger as he has no professionalism) who wants to disprove alien abductions. Fortunately it doesn't suffer from the usual shaky cam, blurry nonsense the "found footage" movies do. The camera shots are used in places and mostly done quite well. Most of the film is standard movie angles and all with just bits of cam footage tossed in at decent moments. Such restraint is definitely appreciated.

On the flip side, the so called journalist really doesn't deserve the title. He basically aggressively accuses alien abductees of lying, constantly getting in their face about things. While it's fine to not be a believer, to basically tell people that they're lying to cover up other traumatic experiences and badgering them about is downright stupid, and usually would result in a punch to the face. As a journalist, or even just a human being, the way the main character treats others is downright shameful.

The special effects are decently done (though most of that budget goes into the last few minutes of the movie). No cheesy special effects that you'd see in a SyFy flick. They have a budget and work well within it to make the most of the presentation.

One of the biggest flaws for me though, is that the movie basically does one of the stupidest things any show or movie could do. It shows you parts of the ending, and then jumps back to X days earlier. NEVER do that. EVER! You're basically spoiling your movie right from the start, which for a lot of people is enough to just give up on it right there. When you know the outcome, then all the rest of the movie becomes mostly meaningless. Everything that could have been an interesting reveal basically becomes an expected outcome.

If not for the horrible idea to put key parts of the end right at the start, this movie would have probably scored an 8 out of 10. It's really a wonderful low budget alien abduction film with a lot going for it.

Enjoyable for sci-fi fans

[tommyrizzuto · 6/10 · 15 June 2021]

A good story with average acting and above average special effects. It's not breaking any molds here, but it's worth the watch if you enjoy stuff about extraterrestrial conspiracies.

All in all not too bad

[Erik-SG · 5/10 · 17 August 2018]

The overall storyline is ok, with just enough suspense and unexpected twists. The best actor performance comes from the supporting cast, Claude Duhamel and Peter Stormare. Some sequences are lacking in directing artistry. For me there is also too much use of hand-held camera (found footage technique).

Interesting premise but makes 3 twists too many

[wellslogan · 3/10 · 16 November 2018]

I went into this thinking it would be a found-footage film and the premise was enough to get me interested. Instead it's shot from a traditional perspective with some "first person" and "documentary" shots sprinkled in.

To save you from having to actually watch this mediocre film here is a story breakdown:

Things start to spiral out of control plot-wise after the main character Chris meets Emily, the girl who claims to have been abducted multiple times and says she will be again on her birthday. Chris and Emily quickly develop an unconvincing relationship, which ends up being important later.

The first twist drops when Chris, Emily, and Chris' camera man buddy get "abducted" by "aliens" who turn out to be a local businessman and another dude who apparently have been going around kidnapping people and shooting them full of "military grade hallucinogens" (actual line from the film). These nefarious men-in-black are trying to keep the UFO-tourism money flowing, I guess? Chris manages to escape in a contrived fashion and free Emily and his camera man buddy, and the three of them find they've been taken to a remote location with little possibility to escape - cornered by their captors, until...

Twist 2: there really ARE aliens!

In come the real aliens to save the day - they somehow know that the businessman baddie is the baddie and zap him, causing him to have a heart attack, or something, and he falls off a 5 foot ledge to his weirdly-bloody death. Then the aliens begin the process of "beaming up" Emily - only Chris jumps in at the last moment and gets beamed up with her. Then Chris, for some reason, wakes up onboard the ship to find him and Emily unattended, except Emily is having her memories modified, for some reason, even though Chris isn't, for some reason. Chris manages to free himself and Emily (for real, both the real and fake alien captors in this film are seriously incompetent) and the two of them wander the alien craft until they run into the actual aliens and we find out...

Twist 3: the aliens are actually FUTURE HUMANS

This is where the plot completely goes off the rails. Apparently the aliens are actually humans from the future who have evolved to the point where they "only see logic" and have apparently lost the ability to feel emotions... I guess? After they witness the budding relationship between Emily and Chris, they reveal themselves and explain that they have actively been removing the bad memories from at least the two of them for their whole lives, in order to change their future, or something. In the end it doesn't matter because they send Emily and Chris back to Earth and the movie pretty much ends. There's a time skip "seven years and 9 months" 🙄 to the birthday party of Emily and Chris' child, which I suppose is supposed to contrast Chris' bad memory of one of his own birthdays which is highlighted throughout the film (and is one of the memories that the "aliens" partially hid from him).

So basically nothing happens in this movie except for Emily and Chris meeting and falling in love - oh and also there are some aliens aka future humans who abduct people for some reason... and a guy who was pretending to abduct people until he gets killed by the real aliens.

There's obviously not much beyond the sky...

[danthepoetman · 4/10 · 17 June 2022]

Small budget on this one, and it shows. You would wish it was only that. But the script is very, very poor. It's not absolutely incoherent, but you feel the writers tried to put more into it than there were means to get it done. The acting is not so bad. But you time and time again, during the duration, feel that this or that is ridiculous, and you never fully get caught up in the plot.

Of all the (countless) movies on the topic, you have very ample choice to find another much better.

A total knockout

[takato0524 · 1/10 · 19 July 2021]

As in it knocked me the f out 34 minutes into it. This was terrible. The main actor, Carnes, he should stick to soaps because he cannot act. His performance was not only not believable, but also over the top. The love story they tried to put together was a flop. Him being an angry journalist just came across as some privileged guy trying to make everyone see his point of view. I have no idea how this ends as I woke up when the credits were rolling. The last thing I did see was them at the reservation taking the hallucinogenic tea.

The Truth about Alien Abduction

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 16 November 2018]

When Chris Norton (Ryan Carnes) was a boy, he witnessed an argument of his parents. His mother leaves the house, there is a power surge and she vanishes. His father Peter Norton (Peter Stormare) claims that she has been abducted by aliens. On the present days, Chris is a filmmaker that wants to expose the hoax about alien abduction that destroyed his family. He travels with his crew to New Mexico to interview people that claim that had been abducted by alien that participate in an alien exposition promoted by Bill Johnson (Don Stark). Chris and his camera Brent (Claude Duhamel) meet Emily Reed (Jordan Hinson), who claims that was abducted when she was seven and fourteen years old. She will be twenty-one on three days and Chris decides to stay with her. They fall in love with each other while strange things happen to Chris and Brent. What is the truth about alien abduction?

"Beyond the Sky" is an entertaining sci-fi-mystery film about alien abduction. The screenplay is well-written and the film is developed in adequate pace. Unfortunately the camera work is very poor and the hair of Jordan Hinson is awful. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

Nothing special here except for some brief special effects

[fimdb-69588 · 2/10 · 30 July 2021]

The script and acting was not impressive. However, the movie did manage to keep my attention all the way to the finish. ...But just barely.

Nothing else on? Watch this, it's pretty good.

[mygamesepad · 6/10 · 8 September 2018]

This movie doesn't have a lot, but there are a lot worst out there, so give it a go. It's not terrible by any means, and the actors did a good job. It starts to seem a little long, then there is a stupid twist towards the end that just shouldn't be there. The "drug" scene is what I'm referring too. The movie probably would have been better without that scene. It improved the movie zero and created a plot hole.

Encounter (Verb)

[wandernn1-81-683274 · 4/10 · 19 October 2021]

A Documentary filmmaker decides to make a film about the alien abduction phenomenon. Goes to a meeting of the 'UFO CONGRESS'. Driving later the filming duo sees or hits what appears to be some type of 'alien' in the road.

Talking to a few locals, the film duo finds a girl who has claimed to have been abducted and interviews her. More interviews follow.

Oh wow Peter Stormare makes an appearance in this? Nice one.

Then it's off to meet with the Pueblo People! And sweat lodge time!!! And then a nice little peyote trip. Good thing he had his wingman there to scoop them up and take them back to their 'motel'.

Then the new 'loves' actually do get abducted. And the creature and ufo effects are okay, but really the story is lame. -1 Star.

4/10.

A UFO FILM DONE RIGHT

[kirbylee70-599-526179 · 8/10 · 6 December 2018]

Ever since the initial UFO scares in the 50s people have loved to watch movies based on the possibility of invaders from outer space heading to Earth. With the stories of Roswell those movies abounded and screens were filled with various versions of little green men. The films weren't done with finesse until Steven Spielberg came along with CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND. The low budget film WAVELENGTH a few years later wasn't bad and FIRE IN THE SKY gave us our first serious look at what was claimed to be an actual abduction. THE X-FILES told us to believe. But most movies failed to hit the mark. Until a new film called BEYOND THE SKY was released.

Documentary film maker Chris Norton (Ryan Carnes) is set to make a film about those who claim they were abducted by aliens. Norton is a non-believer who has a rational explanation for all of the claims being made. In part this was spurred on by the fact that his mother left him and his father years before and on that same night his father claims to have seen aliens. Norton goes to a gathering of claimants at a convention near Roswell along with his trusty cameraman Brent (Claude Duhamel). Warmly greeted by Bill Johnson (Don Stark) things get iffy when while interviewing one of the guests he becomes agitated. Johnson asks them to leave but a woman who calms down the young man catches his interest.

The woman is Emily Reed (Jordan Hinson). Norton and Brent track her down to a small group she hosts on her own with no publicity. Somewhat like an AA meeting each members stands, states their name and tells their story. In Emily's case she has been abducted every seven years since she was seven years old. And in a few days she will be celebrating her 21st birthday.

Staying behind and talking with Emily she invites him to go along with her to a secret Indian ceremony nearby that she hopes will protect her from the abduction this time. Given hallucinogens the trio have visions. When they come down the unfortunate news is that the ceremony didn't work. Emily will once again be abducted.

What happens from here is something that has to be seen to be enjoyed. To reveal more would spoilt it and trust me, the movie caught me off guard here and in a good way. I'm one that usually figures out what's coming before a movie gets to the last 20 minutes. I thought I'd done that here but not quite. It makes for a satisfying ending.

The acting is truly good among this group. They come off as believable and that's refreshing to see in a day and age when big name stars come across as performers rather than actual people. Carrying off a performance on a topic like this and making it believable makes it even more special.

But with a movie about alien abduction the true question becomes what about the special effects? If the potential aliens and spacecraft, if they are indeed that, don't look good then a movie can fall flat on its face. Here I found those to be quite satisfying as well. It was a good job and interesting to witness the concepts that the film makers came up with here.

On the whole I would recommend this movie to any and every one. I truly enjoyed it and know I'll hold on to it and watch it again in the near future. It was that good. My guess is you will enjoy it as well so seek it out among the ton of big studio features that don't begin to compare.

Interesting

[kjarvis-09967 · 7/10 · 19 September 2018]

Interesting movie. A much more realistic approach to the debate between the truth and skepticism about alien abductions, in my opinion.

My opinion

[milicalusimp · 5/10 · 17 February 2019]

I liked it a lot. It is very unpredictable and that is why it is so interesting.

Too much like "Blair Witch Project"

[yard_boy · 2/10 · 6 July 2018]

Maybe this was supposed to be a mocumentary. Claude Duhamel as the awkward videographer was certainly the near-comical counterpart. Pete Stormare, who I liked in "American Gods", was the saving grace of this film. Otherwise, in the words of Nancy Reagan, "Just say no."

three separate ideas crammed into one razor-thin story

[phenomynouss · 4/10 · 17 May 2020]

It's a fairly standard science fiction drama film for the most part. What ever it did or does is serviceable, but for a quick (90 minute) film like this, there is essentially only enough time and energy to devote to one major storyline and its plot elements involved. This is much in the way that, say, Star Trek Wrath of Khan had enough time and focus for the Kirk/Khan rivalry, and not for a miscellaneous Klingon incursion on top of that.

This film makes that mistake by essentially sabotaging itself with two contradicting plot points that very likely end up with fairly reasonable plotholes that would not stand up to scrutiny.

The basic plot of the film is there is a documentary maker, Chris, who is focused on alien abductions and is convinced that abductees are recounting false memories brought about by trauma in their lives. How he attempts this is fairly belligerent and stupid, but it quickly gets dropped when he has an alien-y experience in a town similar to one he had as a child and he goes to a local girl, Emily, to discuss it. All the while he has some notable hostile encounters with Bill, some guy who makes money off the "alien abduction" business.

There's a fairly lengthy middle section to the film that introduces Native American characters who do some kind of ceremonial ritual which seems to not have any relevance to the plot going forward.

After all this, we get to what would have been the film's main storyline revelation; Bill, making references to MKUltra experiments, has been kidnapping random townspeople, drugging them with hallucinogenics, and staging "alien abductions" in his shack out in the desert, essentially exploiting the entire False Memory Syndrome concept Chris had begun with in order to make money off UFO conventions.

This, at least to me, ranks up there with diabolic plans alongside using a Portal-type technology to steal cable TV from someone else's house. How ever much money there is to be made among the UFO convention circuit, I cannot imagine it is enough to invest in literally military-grade hallucinogenics, lights, costumes, props, and the constant risk of getting arrested while kidnapping people and driving them out to the desert to stage an alien probing.

Regardless, it's a fun, wacky, interesting idea to play with for the narrative, and there's plenty of time left in the film by the time this happens to actually do something with it.

Instead, literally as soon as Our Heroes break out of the shack in the middle of the desert and run outside, they encounter a real life actual UFO which Force Chokes Bill to death and abducts them for real, using the same methods that previously we thought was somehow being orchestrated by Bill.

The quick and clumsy way the film transitioned to this new plotline leaves it with not enough time to actually do anything with it. However, this doesn't stop the filmmakers, as they proceed to add an entirely separate third storyline plot idea to the film which is literally dropped with a figurative "Oh hell no" by the protagonists without any argument.

The whole new plot element is: These aren't actually aliens, but time travelling humans who have evolved to be super logical and who are apparently abducting people to test out if erasing people's traumatic memories would do something good or bad to their own future or something. The protagonists essentially say "No, take us home" and the Future Humans do exactly that without any protest.

Three entirely separate ideas, all with great potential for at the very least an interesting story, are instead all crammed together in a single 90 minute film and given no room to do anything beyond show up as a plot twist, then subsequently leave to make way for the next twist, and then the ending.

Nothing else is done with the film to make it particularly effective in any other way. The acting is average, the dialogue is serviceable, the props and costumes are there. Too much of the film hinged on what amounted to three completely different stories, none of which were given enough time to be told.

Amazingly inept and unbalanced film with a surprising ending

[Charlesc-5 · 4/10 · 14 January 2020]

This "UFO" movie probably looked good on paper but is a catalog of "don't" for anyone who watches film.

I'm thinking that any trailer you would see for this film would be taken from the end of this film, which reflects a level of quality and attention (and money) not seen in the rest of the film.

A confused narrative: The body of the film is made in a hybrid of "objective" plus Blair Witch "found footage" style that put together, makes no sense. The "found footage" clips contain ridiculous contradictions in reality and there is no excuse given to account for the 3rd person / tripod shots which are used to bind things together.

Terrible acting / dialogue: The high school level acting and awkward dialogue seals the deal. At no time can a reasonable person suspend their disbelief. The dialogue is unnatural and unbelievable.

A better story: The story (not the dialogue) has some interesting elements (my 2nd star) and I could see why this was greenlighted. The story does not make up for the failures in the "film making" aspects that are beyond forgiveness.

The Ending: The "real" story in this production is the ending which betrays the first hour. As another wrote, 90%+ of the budget is put in about 8 of the last 20 minutes. It's surprisingly well done considering the rest of the production and there's the 3rd star, dragged down by the overall.

I could believe that this film was greenlit on the script plus sample clips of effects toward the ending. Then in production everything falls apart.

Production / acting / directing / editing: 1 star (the lowest rating) Plus 1 star for the story. Plus 1 star for the ending. Plus 1 star for the curiosity of how unbalanced this mess is.

They will come for you...

[paul_haakonsen · 6/10 · 2 January 2019]

Well, I didn't even know about "Beyond the Sky" - aka "Encounter" - prior to getting the chance to sit down and watch it. Normally the Sci-Fi genre is not my first choice of go-to movies, but alien abductions just have something alluring about them. So I gave the movie a chance.

Turns out that I am not wasting my time in doing so, because "Beyond the Sky" actually turned out to be a rather entertaining movie and had an interesting story to tell. I liked how director Fulvio Sestito and writers Rebecca Berrih, Marc Porterfield, Fulvio Sestito and Rob Warren Thomas came up with a storyline that both keeps the audience in the dark, trying to guess and figure out if there is some truth to the happenings or if it is all hoax and make-belief.

There is a good atmosphere to the movie and it feels like you are right there in the midst of the action yourself. So that was a rather enjoyable aspect of the movie. And of course it was set to take place in Roswell, New Mexico, where else could it have been for a movie such as this? Sure, that was a bit corny, but hey it is all part of the charm and the whole mystery that surrounds alien abductions and visits from outer space.

They had a fairly good cast coming together for the movie, and each actually performed quite well and brought their respective character to life on the screen. I was not familiar with the three lead performers; Ryan Carnes - playing Chris Norton, but he performed quite well in this movie. As did Jordan Hinson - playing Emily Reed, and also Claude Duhamel - playing Brent.

It was nice to see the likes of Don Stark - playing Bill Johnson, Peter Stomare - playing Peter Norton and Dee Wallace - playing Lucille, in the movie as well. While their roles were not all that prominent, well Don Stark's character was, then they provided a needed spicy element to the movie with their performances.

While "Beyond the Sky" is a movie that deals with an extraterestial phenomena, it is not a movie that is heavy in its usage with CGI and special effects. And that actually worked out quite well, because the movie was more about suspense, building up tension and atmosphere. But the special effects and CGI that was there was spot on, and really worked so well for the movie.

I was more than genuinely entertained with this movie, and I had somewhat expected it to be a less than mediocre movie experience, perhaps even one of those kind of found-footage movies with shoddy camerawork. Glad it turned out not to be that kind. If you enjoy light Sci-Fi and have an interest in alien abductions, then you should definitely take the time to sit down and watch "Beyond the Sky".

They tried too hard.

[poltraite · 1/10 · 29 November 2020]

I couldn't finish this movie. The acting was terrible. For some reason, the main character was a short sighted a-hole and the plot holes were just silly. The twists were disappointing and made me th9nk the writer tried too hard and made a mess.

Good Sci-Fi Story

[itsbobr · 7/10 · 6 December 2018]

Chris Norton (Ryan Carnes) wants to produce a documentary to prove once and for all that Alien Abductions do not exist. He needs to prove his father Peter (Peter Stormare) wrong as he always claimed that his wife was abducted and never returned home. Chris believes his mother left because her husband was a no account drunk. Chris travels to a UFO convention near Roswell, NM and finds Emily (Jordan Hinson) who claims to have been abducted every 7-years since she was born. Her 21st birthday is coming up and Chris wants to be near her. This should be good.

You have a feeling that you will know 2-things: (1) Chris and Emily will fall in love (Ya think?) and (2) Chris will change his mind about Alien Abductions. How's that? Got your attention now?

We hear Chris narrate what he will do to prove his point. This lasts only a while and is forgotten for the rest of the movie.

We do see some exceptional desert landscapes and Heaven-like pastel skies.

We will see a con game by Bill Johnson (Don Stark) to perpetuate the alien abduction stories as it's good for business. Chris and Emily get kidnapped into the phony con game, and escape, but what happens next Is why we go to these type of movies.

Notables: Claude Duhamel as Brent, Chris' cameraman; Dee Wallace as Lucille, proprietor of the Alien Artifacts store; Milton Chee as John Greatbear, the father figure for Emily and her protector; Don Stark as Bill Johnson who organizes the Alien events.

It doesn't matter if you believe or not believe in UFOs, Alien Abductions or if we have been visited by Aliens in the past or not, this is a good Sci-Fi story and the ending will satisfy and the CGI at the end is sure to impress. Would love to see Sequels. (7/10)

Violence; Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Humor: Some. Language: Believe I heard one F-bomb but sounded muffled. Rating: B

Story is a bit faint

[josenelias · 3/10 · 11 December 2019]

The main flaw is the over-acting of the lead actor, who portraying a skeptical character and even somewhat anti-abuse theory behaves overly aggressively and a-hole, looking very amateurish. Another downside is the forced romance between the two main characters. After a few minutes they look ready to marry. Otherwise, the story is a bit faint, and the footage switches from hand-held camera to classic outside view, which makes no sense.

i do not know what to believe.....

[ops-52535 · 8/10 · 15 November 2018]

Well as the headline says,i'm not quite sure what i shall believe, but this film came over me like an alien encounter. it is not a high flyer big budget movie, so what has been made here are quite sensational and groovy. when i write this im in my cabin in the dark woods of norway,and i dont dare to go outside taking a leak...why? watch the film and you¨ll find out. the story are pretty standard alienish, some of the acting seems inexperienced, but at the pivotal moments it does works. the filmography are typical documentarish style,with some low quality picture images, but the locations are nice,but what makes it worth watching is the special effects in the final part , and the shock-jolting moments out in the desert. i can recommend this one, and will very likely show it to my wife....thats sign of quality...

Drugs or Aliens?

[nogodnomasters · 6/10 · 28 June 2018]

Peter (Peter Stormare) is out to prove alien abductions do not happen, based on an incident that occurred as a child. He goes to a small town that believes in aliens and wears out his welcome with his skepticism and camera. He befriends Emily Reed (Jordan Hinson) who has the habit of getting abducted every seven years on her birthday. Peter's skepticism wanes as he investigates further.

The film was NOT a found footage film. Fulvio Sestito must have heard the cries of critics and uses the cam sparingly. The film added some known stars such as Dee Wallace and Don Stark in support roles. The special effects and clearly 90% of the budget was spent on the "encounter" wasn't bad, just too much drama and not enough action.

Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity.

So so

[haniszek · 5/10 · 24 January 2019]

The movie is mediocre at best. But I loved Dave Grohl performing as the cameraman. He was brilliant.

Confirmation bias for alien conspiracy theorists

[bigdogs-18248 · 3/10 · 25 July 2021]

If you love alien conspiracies, this will feed into your confirmation bias. If you're a skeptic, it will do nothing to relieve your skepticism. The acting isn't even good enough to allow for suspension of disbelief. All in all it's only as good as you already believe it will be.

Saw the budget and earnings...no wonder

[Catracho0227 · 1/10 · 5 December 2021]

I got dizzy with all the back and forth scenes of the actors as they argue with each other. Movie moves so fast keeping track of time you need a stopwatch.