The best science-fiction manages to tell valuable lessons about our own place in the world. The fantastical settings and implausible occurrences inherent in the genre are ultimately just dressing for fables inspired by reality. Zach Clark’s The Becomers is dense with such poignant lessons, though viewers would be forgiven for missing the deeper meanings in such a funny indie. This is what science fiction (at any budget) should strive for.
Clark’s film follows two extraterrestrial entities (and passionate lovers) who have come to Earth after their planet succumbed to disasters meant to mirror our own impending crises. Unfortunately for the residents of our planet, their survival depends on inhabiting the bodies of humans, before eventually having to find another host. This biological necessity is predicated upon an ethical code designed to minimize damage to the host planet and its denizens, but this becomes more complicated than anticipated.
They arrive on the planet separately, and the female alien (though gender is seemingly irrelevant to these beings) inhabits the body of Francesca (Isabel Alamin). With the police on her tail after they make a gruesome discovery, she eventually switches bodies into Carol (Molly Plunk), a successful woman harboring a secret, along with her husband, that makes the aliens seem like the normal ones.
“…their survival depends on inhabiting the bodies of humans…”
The Becomers goes bananas from here, but the film sticks to its greatest strength — being uproariously funny and clever. The setup is ripe for hilarity as these two foreigners attempt fitting in this strange new world. Perplexed by the nature of society, they fumble their way through this new life, making time for their grotesque form of lovemaking that is sure to make viewers queasy.
For a good portion of the movie, the two entities inhabit the lives of Carol (mentioned earlier) and her husband Gordon (Mike Lopez). The two actors impress as they switch from a troubled married couple to affect-less alien entities weirding out their circle of friends. The introduction of Illinois Governor Jack Olatka (Keith Kelly) ups the ante in terms of comedy in a truly bizarre turn of events.
As we grow with the two outsiders and learn more about their backstory (relayed periodically through the sage voice of Russell Mael), they become less like outcasts and become more familiar. Take away their glowing eyes and peculiar anatomy, they aren’t that different from us. Indeed, in a deeply polarized society sorely missing civil discourse, these two just might be what we need. The influence of the pandemic is felt in the production, not just in terms of the facial coverings, but more in the omnipresent sense of anxiety and social antagonism.
Sure, there are times when the film’s cheapness becomes apparent (the glowing eyes is probably something that could have been nixed altogether), but I’d rather watch The Becomers twice than watch the vast majority of CGI-laden drivel filling up multiplexes around the nation. One leaves the film refreshed at the inventiveness and wit coursing through its veins. The Becomers may not have the largest budget, but it has the largest heart.
"…This is what science fiction (at any budget) should strive for..."
