While The UFO Girl does have a UFO (actually a flying saucer) in it, let’s get this out of the way right up front – It’s not about the UFO. It’s about the girl, and there just happens to be a flying saucer there. While we’re at it, let me switch into old-man-yells-at-cloud mode and say that “UFO” stands for “Unidentified Flying Object.” When you know what the flying object is, it is no longer unidentified. The object in this short film happens to be a flying saucer or alien spacecraft. Although I do concede that “UFO Girl” sounds a lot cooler than “flying saucer girl.”
The fictional town of Stone’s Throw, Kentucky (filmed in Cloverport, KY) has a very peculiar tourist attraction – That being a flying saucer that randomly appeared in 1991 and has just been hovering in place ever since, a la District 9. Nothing has ever come out of it, and nobody has ever been able to get inside of it. It just sits there, spinning in the sky, as prophecized by Steve Perry in Journey’s hit song “Wheel in the Sky”.
Nikki (Liz McFerron) is a high school student who lives in Stone’s Throw and has, therefore, had the flying object over her head since the day she was born. Her adoptive mother Laura (Evender Hodges Sanders) runs an arcade in town. Together, Nikki and Laura have a very charming “Gilmore Girls” style relationship, which you will see from their first appearance together inside of the arcade.
“…a flying saucer that randomly appeared in 1991 and has been hovering in place ever since…”
Nikki often uses the roof of the arcade building to hang out and talk to the ship as if it were her best friend. It never replies, just absorbing her words and never letting them escape, like a lockbox of sorts. The other kids in town have singled her out to pick on her for this, labeling her with the nickname “UFO Girl” as a pejorative. However, Nikki has found a way to monetize this – She gives UFO tours for tourists, using Laura’s arcade as home base. Despite making lemonade with these lemons, she still feels lonely and detached, which is only amplified by the bullies in town.
In a way, the UFO and Nikki are one. Nobody has ever been able to get inside the UFO. Likewise, nobody has ever been able to get inside of Nikki’s head. She’s troubled and feels alone, just like the lone saucer in the sky, forever spinning in disregard of everything around it. But just as her friend Sparky (Bob Singleton) devises a way to see what’s inside of the spacecraft, Nikki meets someone who helps her to start opening up as well.
The craftsmanship of this short film is a step above most shorts that I see on youtube. Great cinematography and great audio. It features a score by Jeff Thacher which sounds similar to John Williams in spots, as well as some cool pop songs that seem to fit the narrative well. Writer/Director Shane Devon gets a base hit with The UFO Girl. I look forward to seeing more of his work.
"…Shane Devon gets a base hit"
