Alien In The Heartland, written and directed by Eric Pascarelli, commits one of the cardinal sins of cinema: it tells, doesn’t show, almost exclusively. Everything is conveyed through dialogue until the very end. However, if the script is good enough and the actors are up to the task, the plot can still grab audiences’ attention. Is that the case here, or should the filmmaker have turned it into a stage play?
Sisters Ellie (Holly Anspaugh) and Johanna (Chloe Lutz) may live together in a small Indiana town, but they are wildly different. Johanna, who is now a year sober, doesn’t take work seriously. Whereas Ellie has been at the same pest control company for 10 years. While out to get Chloe from her first day at a doughnut shop, sirens blare, forcing Ellie into the closest home. That house is the residence of Thomas (James Tackett) and his daughter, Roxy (Tori Behny), with Aunt Kim (Daisy Paroczy Hickey) visiting, as it is the anniversary of Thomas’s wife/Roxy’s mother’s death. Once the sirens go silent, Ellie finds Chloe outside, not too far from the house, unconscious.
Unfortunately, for everyone, trying to piece together what happened is difficult because the internet is not working. So the family and the sisters’ only source of information is a live broadcast picked up on Ellie’s crank-powered radio. The voices on the radio, Rita (Trick Blanchfield) and author Amanda (Amanda Winston), claim that all the ruckus is caused by alien invaders. As if that weren’t bad enough, they can shapeshift to appear human. This information turns Thomas into a paranoid hunter, believing one of the sisters or his daughter might be an extraterrestrial.
“…all the ruckus is caused by alien invaders. As if that weren’t bad enough, they can shapeshift to appear human.”
As mentioned above, Alien In The Heartland is all talk. The sisters discuss Ellie’s 10-year anniversary at her job. Thomas talks to Roxy about the props he uses to create for films. Once everyone is convened, they get to know each other. Thomas accuses Ellie and/or Chloe of being aliens by explicitly stating so. Rita and Amanda talk on the radio, delivering the information that fuels the paranoia. However, why no one at the house turns on a television is best left unscrutinized. The most action of any kind that happens is Ellie’s quest to find Chloe early on, and the sisters and Roxy being forced to their respective rooms at gunpoint. Besides those few moments, totaling probably 3 or 4 minutes, it is all talk for 1 hour and 23 minutes.
Luckily, the script is smart, and the characters are interesting. No one feels like anyone else, or just some cookie-cutter person around to pad out the cast. Each main character serves a purpose and is entirely distinct. That is in part due to the writing, but also thanks to the acting. Anspaugh sells Ellie’s concern over her sister. Lutz makes her tragic backstory a core part of the role. Tackett makes his character’s paranoia forceful and intrusive, generating intensity as the narrative continues.
Alien In The Heartland is almost all talk, meaning it is not very cinematic. This could be translated to the stage with minimal changes. But the dialogue is good, and the acting is even better. Combine those two elements with the thematically rousing finale, and one gets a solid film overall.
For more information about Alien In The Heartland visit the official Pascarelli Pictures site.
"…the dialogue is good, and the acting is even better."
