Remember Keri Russell from the old college girl show "Felicity". You know, with lotsa curly red hair? Well, the stick thin, haggard wife at the center of Writer and Director Scott Stewart's dystopian suburban horror sci fi thriller bears a resemblence to her. In a scary sorta way.
"Dark Skies" is about an edgy suburban household where the father (Josh Hamilton) has lost his job and is bumming, the mom is working, the kids are aware of all the tension and someone or something is intruding into the house.
NOW: I have written sci-fi and the first rule of sci-fi is:
TELL THE FOLKS THE RULES OF THIS WORLD AND THEN STAY TRUE TO IT.
OIf Scott had done this within the first half hour the surprise ending would have been quite succesful, instead it isn't revealed to the two thirds point and so the pay off doesn't pay and isn't off. Meanwhile, as the family descends into a living hell made by visitors from outer space ("They've come millions of miles" one character comments, "Do you think moving to a motel is gonna fool them?") a really good story about a thirteen year old boy, his best friend and his first crush, is hidden in the folds. It would've made for a first rate movie, and it was really true to itself. After the first kiss, the very good young actor from Thor, Dakota Goyo enjoys a beatific bike ride through the forest.
The rest of the movie has some "boooo -gotcha" moments but it is really a miserable slog to a sucky and sad with just a tinge of hope ending and it could've been so much more. The entire thing has some irritants that only emerge as major problems towards the end: it is like being told you have a cough and discovering it is really lung cancer.
Music isn't bad, the Drums "Days" makes a welcome appearance as well as a band I don't know, can't find, but remember like, the Belle Sound. The reason for the teen pop is because of the story that is working its way around the edges. A really good one that Scott decided not to shoot.
Movie: C
Music: B+