Review: Extinction

Timing is everything. Take the twist in Extinction, which comes an hour after the film starts and which is meant to have viewers rethink everything that came before it. Co-screenwriter Eric Heisserer tried a similar narrative gambit in his previous effort, Arrival, but, unlike that Oscar-nominated film, Extinction would have greatly benefited from the twist being revealer earlier. As it stands, viewers have to slog through a generally standard B-movie for a payoff that is nearly too little, too late.

Peter (Michael Peña) is a factory tech engineer suffering from nightmares in which innocent people, including his wife Alice (Lizzy Caplan) and his two daughters, are attacked by flying objects in the sky. The vivid dreams affect him to such a degree on the home and work fronts that both Alice and his boss David (Mike Colter) urge him to seek help. Naturally, his apocalyptic visions are there as a warning sign and, soon enough, his nightmares turn into a reality when their city is the target for an alien invasion.

A good chunk of the film is devoted to Peter and his family's attempts to make their way out of their high-rise and into the tunnels which will lead them to Peter's factory which, in his dreams, was a safe haven. Between this and Skyscraper, it seems Hollywood's new idea of family bonding time is for children to be suitably traumatised as their parents protect them from dangers, whether they be a burning building or an alien attack. At least Skyscraper doesn't pretend to be more than mere escapist fare. Extinction, on the other hand, tries to have its cake and eat it too, weaving in not-so-subtle social commentary about xenophobia and racial tensions that might have been more resonant had the film been less clumsily executed.

Whilst its heartening to see Peña take the lead rather than shine in the periphery, there's not much for him to work with. Ditto for Caplan. Neither of their characters have much depth, which may be deliberate in design but is detrimental to audience investment. Perhaps most disappointing of all is the somewhat confused direction by Ben Young, whose chilling and superbly executed psychological drama, Hounds of Love, displayed enormous promise.

Extinction

Directed by: Ben Young

Written by: Spenser Cohen, Eric Heisserer, Brad Kane

Starring: Michael Peña, Lizzy Caplan, Mike Colter, Emma Booth, Amelia Crouch, Erica Tremblay, Lilly Aspell, Israel Broussard, Lex Shrapnel, Tom Riley