SAVE YOURSELVES!
Directed by: Alex Huston Fischer, Eleanor Wilson
Starring: Sunita Mani, John Reynolds, Ben Sinclair
Su an Jack are a young middleclass couple living in New York, becoming more and more dissatisfied with their current lives. When they meet their friend Ralph at a party, they take him up on his offer to borrow his holiday cottage in the countryside to detox from urban living and go off-grid for a whole week. However such a plan turns out to be more difficult than they first thought, and then the aliens arrive…
Save Yourselves is a funny examination of modern living and two people in particular searching for purpose.
Jack and Su are leading a relatively comfortable existence and it's making them feel restless. They can sense the rut that their lives have nestled into but like most of us are afraid of what lies beyond that. When they go to the party and hear about Ralph's exploits, they can't help but hold a mirror up on their own current state. However Ralph encourages them by saying that he was in the same position as they are when he decided that he wanted more from life.
The offer of Ralph's cabin to "reconnect" with themselves encourages them to go a step further and go off-grid: turning off their phones and laptops for a whole week. However with no new information, no distractions from each other, it highlights just how shallow their existences have become. Su for example interrogates Jack with a load of relationship-themed questions she'd downloaded from the internet prior to their trip. She gets angry when he refuses to answer but at the same time has not thought of answers herself. It's almost as if she doesn't realise that she needs to put in as much effort into the relationship as she expects from him.
When they notice a weird, furry "pouffe" in the lodge, they first assume it's part of the furniture but when they later discover it in a different location they start to realise that something is wrong. And when it moves, definitely so! It compels them to turn on their phones and learn that a weird alien invasion is underway.
What had started as a light-hearted examination of the trappings of modern life becomes a light-hearted examination of two inept people ill-prepared for having to fight for their survival. Through a couple of unexpected turns of fate, the pair do eventually discover a purpose, however long that may last.
For the most part this is a two-hander, with Sunita Mani and John Reynolds front and centre for most of the running time. They are both very good in their roles, very likeable despite their flaws. In fact its their flaws which make them more relatable. The script is witty and sardonic, with some funny moments - one party guest saying how his wedding is going to be a small affair to keep its "carbon footprint" small, but in the same breath mention how he's flying a 12 piece brass band in for the occasion. Best of all though it ensures that we care about Su and Jack and what their fate may be. When they do meet another person late in the film for example it puts into stark contrast their own humanity and empathic nature.
THE VERDICT
Even without the alien invasion element, this would be a decent, humourous film examining modern living and modern relationships. The inclusion of the alien pouffes and their weird, erm…alien…ways adds to the film's visual style and provides an ending which is incredibly ambiguous.
8 out of 10 RECOMMENDED (MikeOutWest)