***Spoilers Ahead***

I like to think that being raised by an artist helped me learn to appreciate the craft of many other artists. Perhaps this has allowed me to suspend logic in some ways; enter my adoration of magical realism. In short: I like to be entertained and The Fourth Kind was entertaining and troubling.

Horror, mystery, sci-fi, these are all the categories where the film The Fourth Kind is included. I’d like to add this film to the very small category of “Directors & Screenwriters of Color who found and earned major distribution for their films in 2009.” Olatunde Osunsanmi is a Nigerian director and screenwriter and The Fourth Kind is his first film distributed by a major corporate company.

We are told the film is based on actual events and has the documentation of personal accounts, interviews, tape recordings, and original video footage as “proof” of the events we, the audience witness. Osunsanmi splices the original footage and tape recordings with his reenactment of what occurred. Check out the trailer below for an example:

Married clinical psychologists research a 40-year sleep disorder in the town of Nome, Alaska. The leading actor is Milla Jovovich (Resident Evil, Zoolander) who plays Abbey Taylor. It is through her standpoint that we witness what occurs. We are informed at the beginning of the movie that some scenes will be disturbing and it is up to us to decide what we believe happened. I appreciate that approach because it demonstrates that each viewer will have a different or unique opinion about the film. I find these statements useful because it gives viewers permission to disagree, choose to believe, or be affirmed in their confusion.

After the death of her husband Taylor continues the research while seeing a psychologist herself, her friend Abel Campos performed by Elias Koteas (Shutter Island, The Haunting In Connecticut). Taylor realizes several of her clients are witnessing the same phenomenon: a white owl watching them at night. Taylor videotapes and tape-records her sessions with her patients whom she hypnotizes to discover what occurs when they witness the white owl. After one of her patients is hypnotized, he murders his family and then commits suicide because he cannot live with what he has remembered and experienced. It is at this time that Taylor becomes of interest to the local police, especially Sheriff August performed by Will Patton (A Mighty Heart, Armageddon).

Upon being placed on pseudo-house arrest, Taylor looks into the work her husband left and discovers he was interested in one of the first known languages: Sumerian. The connection for Taylor to the language becomes clear to her when she realizes she may have also experienced what her clients have and has proof that she recorded one evening. If you have yet to figure out the basis of the film from the title, the film focuses on people who believe they were abducted by non-human life forms. These non-human life forms communicate in the Sumerian language of which Taylor finds a scholar to help interpret the language. Enter African scholar Awolowa Odusami performed by Hakeem Kae-Kazim (X-Men, Hotel Rwanda). And here’s a major spoiler: Odusami doesn’t die.

Yes, I’m more impressed with Osunsanmi’s use of his camera, angles, and how he chooses his perspectives for viewers to experience the film. There were several “close up” shots of many every day items that we often don’t consider; however they are crucial aspects of the story. For example, Osunsanmi puts emphasis on the video camera that is being used by psychologist Taylor, a focus on the lens of the camera, and a focus on the tape recording device that is used. Also a focus on doorknobs, shadows, and stillness, which I believe is difficult to capture yet Osunsanmi succeeds.

It is not often that we see a film where the director has literally placed himself or herself in the film. Osunsanmi includes aspects of his interview with Taylor in the film as we watch the trajectory of the story. Some people may not like this approach, but I found it useful, and sometimes uncomfortable because Osunsanmi has a great poker face, or I’d call it a “poker face” because there were times where I just squirmed in my seat because of my discomfort in certain aspects of the story. You are basically listening to someone’s testimonio of violence, violation, abuse, and rape.

One aspect of the film that I was confused by was the character Abel Campos. It is clear that the aliases selected for each character were thoughtfully selected (except for Abbey Taylor who gave permission to use her name). I found myself wondering if Abel Campos is Latino. The only reason I thought of this was his surname. I also did a bit of research into the story of Cain and Abel as there seemed to be many connections to some religions with the naming and the Sumerian language. (I’m not a religious scholar and was pretty much raised in an agnostic home, so I can’t clearly see a connection, but if you do please share!) I also appreciated the casting decisions, although Greek actor Elias Koteas performs Campos’ character, he is spectacular in this role. Also present were female characters that I racialized as ambiguous or possibly indigenous and representing the Nome Eskimo Community.

There are numerous parts of this story that I’ve omitted in this review in hopes that you will support Osunsanmi’s first major film and consider being challenged, if not with the story presented, than with the cinematography. I had a good chat with my homegirl who I went to view the film with and we are both pretty much not going to argue that non-human life may exist, especially if someone believes with every aspect of their being that they experienced and witnessed an encounter and abduction. And we are definitely not going to argue with them if they have some form of video or recorded proof. Finally, because this is a story of survival, who am I to say what everyone in the film experienced is not “real”? I’m not sure what satisfaction I’d get out of denying a survivor belief in their testimonio.

This film reminded me of the ocean and the sand: something bigger than us, all of us.

The VL Verdict: 8.5 out of 10