Into the Sky turned out to be one of the more purely enjoyable films I saw at Fantastic Fest. Co-written and directed by Evan Buxbaum and Drew Mylrea, it blends science fiction, comedy and a touch of romance into something strange, funny and surprisingly sweet. The premise is ridiculous in exactly the right way, and the film knows it.
Sam Richardson plays Bobby, a man desperately trying to reconnect with his estranged wife while dealing with a significant complication: he keeps getting abducted by aliens. After one of those encounters, he returns home to find Nico, played by Sofia Black-D’Elia, living in his house. Their lives become increasingly tangled as Bobby also connects with Jaden, another alleged abductee, played by David Cross. From there, Into the Sky moves between alien-conspiracy comedy, romantic comedy, and some wonderfully oddball science fiction.
The leads are wonderful, but Richardson is particularly appealing and carries the film beautifully. Bobby could easily have become little more than the joke at the center of the story, but Richardson gives him warmth, vulnerability, and an easy comic charm. He makes Bobby someone worth rooting for even as increasingly bizarre things keep happening around him. Black-D’Elia is equally engaging as Nico, and the two share a natural chemistry that gives the crazier science-fiction elements a surprisingly grounded center. David Cross gets to be considerably stranger and adds another layer of offbeat humor.
I thought Into the Sky was simply fun. It moves well, has a clever premise, and never gets so wrapped up in explaining its science fiction that it forgets to entertain. There are aliens, blue goo, some darker, grosser moments, and plenty of absurdity, but beneath it all is a surprisingly likable story about people trying to figure out where — and with whom — they belong.
Fantastic Fest can serve up a lot of darkness, blood, and dread, so a funny, engaging science-fiction comedy like this was a welcome change of pace for me. Into the Sky is weird, warm, and highly watchable, with Richardson providing the film with exactly the kind of appealing center it needs.