A blend of alien thriller and road movie

If you’ve seen the trailers for Encounter, you’re probably expecting your stock-standard Hollywood alien invasion film. This is not it.

From Beast director Michael Pearce, Amazon Studios’ Encounter revolves around Malik Kahn (Riz Ahmed), a former special ops marine on a mission to save his young sons from an apparent threat of non terrestrial microorganisms — so yeah, aliens.

The film opens with an extremely…crunchy visualisation of the brutal food chain, followed by an intense sequence in which a parasite burrows into an organic system. Pearce maintains this juiciness with close-up shots of eyeballs, checking for tell-tale signs of alien inhabitation. It’s a lot to kick off with. In classic creature feature threat establishment form, the film’s script leans on dialogue puns unintentionally delivered by characters (but almost winking down the camera).

“I’m just getting eaten alive today.” “It’s just a bug.” You get it.

However, while the film starts off with this Invasion of the Body Snatchers energy, and Malik preparing himself against a potential planetary takeover, it moves swiftly in and out of this genre, blending alien thriller with road movie with elements of family drama. Ahmed expertly keeps Malik seemingly balanced and calm at first in the face of oppressive stress, making a fun game out of the road trip for his kids Bobby (Aditya Geddada) and Jay (Lucian-River Chauhan) while managing threats. But it’s not the full story.

As a road movie slightly by the numbers, thundering across the Martian-like terrain of Oregon, California, and Nevada, Encounter could be lost in the long tradition of Thelma and Louises. And it takes more than a few detours, some which work, others that feel like a swerve for swerving’s sake, bringing the film to just shy of two hours (it actually felt longer). But it’s the exceptional performances of Ahmed and his young co-stars Chauhan and Geddada that truly keep Encounter’s eyes on the road.

Fatherhood remains a core theme of the film, and the complex connection between the core three actors is strikingly solid. Malik’s love of his sons pushes him to do whatever it takes to keep them safe with military precision, always finding a way out, keeping low, and moving forward. There’s ample time spent on the complicated relationship of an estranged father and his young boys, and the film also examines the enormous burden of responsibility bestowed on kids when a parent requires them to grow up faster than they should have to.

Ahmed is characteristically superb keeping Malik afloat between two states, a veteran attempting to manage a crisis while burying his inner turmoil for his sons’ sake and figuring out how to parent. It’s a raw, intense process and one that sees Malik making some major turns, and having to deal with the consequences. Meanwhile, Geddada brings a delightfully stubborn determination and vulnerability to the trio as younger brother Bobby, while Chauhan is nothing short of miraculous as brave, wise older brother Jay, balancing his shifting role as child and guardian with seemingly effortless conviction. It’s also worth highlighting Octavia Spencer as a parole officer, Hattie, bringing empathy, perseverance, and doubt to a somewhat underdeveloped character.

There’s also a strong, constant reminder that regardless of any intergalactic element, family road trips are never as rosy an experience as we like to remember they were, especially if there’s an air of threat. There’s a particularly strong scene featuring Selena Gomez’ “Lose You to Love Me” that follows this classic road trip trajectory — moving from cheesy to magical to uncomfortable to changing the whole game. It’s the same level of wind that gets knocked out of the sense of frivolity when Steve Carrell’s character runs into his ex at the petrol station in Little Miss Sunshine: a sweet snack mission can go sour in an instant.

Ultimately, Encounter reels you in with the ongoing obsession with the great beyond landing on our planet, all while it subtly asks whether we should be focusing our attention Earthward instead. Whether the genre-blending works might be up to you, but the core cast truly make this an intense trip, at least.

Encounter is streaming on Prime Video Dec. 10. in the U.S. and out now in the UK.