Extraterrestrial (Nacho Vegalando, 2011): Spain

Reviewed By Daniel Matthew Harrington. Viewed at AFI Fest 2011.

Nacho Vegalando’s Extraterrestrial is both written and directed by himself. The main setting of the film location is in the apartment of Julia (Michelle Jenner) who recently had a one night stand with Julio, (Julian Villagran) as she is showing him out of the apartment from an awkward morning of mistakes they notice a huge alien space craft floating above the city. Soon after Julio and Julia learn from her obsessed neighbor Angel (Carlos Areces) that while they were passed out during an alien invasion and the city and all others around the surrounding area were evacuated, so they didn’t hear a thing.

Suddenly, Julia’s boyfriend Carlos (Raul Cimas) has come to find her and the two are forced to quickly make up a story of how Julia saw Julio passed out on the street and brought him inside in an effort to save his life. Both Julia and Julio are pretending like they don’t care for each other but their feelings are strong for one another.  The boyfriend Carlos is made out to be kept from the truth, which is the main priority for both Julia and Julio. They decide to keep Carlos in the dark about their sexual relations primarily for fear of who he may physically hurt if he were to find out. Instead, Carlos is a bit of a softy with a kind and trusting heart. He seems genuinely concerned for Julio, which makes the situation even funnier. Soon Julio and Julia are taking their lies to even greater heights and it’s very entertaining how they’re able to use the idea of an alien invasion to their advantage mixed with the logic Carlos employs to make sense of it all.