Amazon’s Encounter: A Road-Trip Movie About Aliens, PTSD, and Family

A meteor lights up the night sky and crashes into Earth. Big bugs are multiplying in the forest. One is shown biting, burrowing, and exploding inside a human body. Malik Khan (Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal) wakes up in a motel room with bloodshot eyes and large insects loudly scurrying along the walls. The former Marine is out the door, contacting “base” and off to pick up (really, kidnap) his sons from his separated wife. He plays it as a “secret mission” adventure to his sons (ages 10 and 6), but it’s soon apparent that “it’s not a road trip, it’s a rescue mission.” This is the intriguing premise of Amazon Studios’ Encounter (released December 2021, 1h 48m).

Malik jumps back and forth between bonding with his sons and losing his temper with them when they act like young boys who don’t know where they’re going. The “mission” gets dangerous as Malik’s behavior becomes increasingly erratic and the alien bug infestation more difficult to comprehend. The older boy isn’t seeing what his dad sees. They didn’t pack anything either, besides lots of bug spray. The plot goes off the rails with a couple of violent interactions. Malik’s parole officer, Hattie Hays (Octavia Spencer, underused again, but always terrific), enters the fray and tries to persuade him to bring the boys home. It’s too late for that now. An APB is in full force.

The soundtrack moves from menacing to ambient, from Selena Gomez to Slayer, and sometimes deliberately out-of-sync as when Phil Collins’ (“Take a Look at Me Now) Against All Odds” plays during a shotgun encounter with a militia man. I particularly enjoyed the following conversation when the boys are not enjoying the heavy metal music dad has on the radio: “What kind of music do you guys like?” Older son, “K-pop.” “That’s why you’re in the back.” Younger son, “Barbra Streisand.” “That’s why you’re both infected.”

“We’re a long way from base,” Malik says as they’re barreling down the highway. The movie is a long way from where it started, too. The trailers lead one to think it’s a sci-fi space movie. It quickly becomes a family road trip compounded greatly by Dad’s PTSD and eventually a manhunt. The film strains plausibility and Malik’s behavior will go beyond the limits for some. Ahmed is outstanding again, however, and so are the young boys. It’s a decent movie with moments of action, suspense, and it keeps you guessing…at least for a while.

D² Rating ◼◼◩☐☐

Trivia: For which 2016 HBO series did Riz Ahmed win the Emmy for Best Actor in a Limited Series?

Answer: A Night of