The Fourth Kind (2009)

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  TheMovieDiorama

  3 / 10

  The Fourth Kind feels more like 'Obvious Encounters of the Boring Kind'. Director Osunsamni had good intentions, this film means no harm to the reputation of Nome, Alaska, and attempts to produce an eerie psycho-thriller utilising an inventive style. But this...this was not the way to do that. A psychologist tapes hypnotherapy sessions of several patients who all claim to witness an owl, to which she quickly suspects could relate to abduction theories. The narrative is stylised as a pseudodocumentary, with Jovovich commencing the film with "I'm actress Milla Jovovich". It's designed to act as a dramatisation to the "documentary" segments that are played adjacently at various times using a split-screen format. Repeatedly purporting to be based on real events, the film insufferably conveys fictionalisation as truth. How? Well, the "documentary" video footage boasts just as much fakery as the dramatisation. The exploitation of real missing persons cases, that have yet to be unsolved, to convey fictional alien abduction theories is indirectly insensitive. Yes, it is just a science fiction mystery film, but its narrative framework is misleading and leaves a bitter aftertaste. Even putting aside this distasteful format, the story, characters and pacing are boringly mundane and possess no genuine entertainment. The ambiguous nature of the extraterrestrial abductions is never truly explored and hardly ever captivates. A few moments of intrigue are diminished when the "documentary" archival footage frequently glitches out, so that you cannot see the obvious visual effects of a levitating individual. Praise must be given to Jovovich who, once again, does her best with what she is given. A few emotional scenes assist in developing her character, but it's too late. The film was already insultingly exploitative and monotonously dull, that no credible acting talent could save it. It even ends with "what you believe is yours to decide". Yeah, I believe this to be stupid. The Fourth Kind needs to be abducted, probed and never to return.

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