Writer/Director Zach Clark (Little Sister) takes familiar science fiction concepts, namely body-hopping aliens attempting to assimilate themselves on Earth, to awkward results and gets even weirder with it. The Becomers defies easy categorization as it blends absurdist humor with gross-out sci-fi and quirky rom-com conventions. It’s an ambitious voyage aimed to challenge perceptions and occasionally the gag reflex as it examines the power of love amidst a turbulent world.
The Becomers begins as horror, with an alien landing on Earth and seeking a human host to emulate. The alien finds one but then comes upon a woman giving birth in her car, asking for help. The title card then abruptly appears over a revolting mingling of blood and viscous yellow body fluid swirling on the ground. It’s enough to impress upon viewers that this alien species’ body-hopping way of fitting in spells bad news for the human hosts. But then Clark’s latest quickly shifts gears as the alien, Francesca (Isabel Alamin), clumsily checks into a motel to begin their search for a long-lost love from their home planet while establishing a new home on Earth.
Francesca happened to arrive on Earth during a rather tumultuous time, with terrorism and pandemic anxieties compounding the aliens’ attempts to fit in. That colors her interactions with various humans, from sympathetic motel workers to politicians. Then there’s the body-hopping, which means its lead aliens are defined solely by their enduring romance and personalities rather than their faces. Each act brings massive shifts in genre, tone, and even performers that can be dizzying in its ambitious storytelling. When the lovers reunite, assuming the identities of Carol (Molly Plunk) and Gordon (Mike Lopez), it adds more complications to an increasingly complex narrative as the couple must contend with their host body’s secrets and personal lives.
The simple concept of what our world must look like to outsiders yields absurd humor and satirical eccentricities that never feel heavy-handed or didactic, thanks to Clark’s lighter approach. Clark packs the details to paint a stark portrait that humanity is just as messy and unhinged as the aliens studying them. However, the aliens occasionally get the edge through some body horror moments.
Sparks’ frontman Russell Mael helps guide viewers through the aliens’ plight as the narrator, a clever inclusion given The Becomers’ fluid nature. More than the helpful narration, it’s the central love story that anchors the fluidity of the two alien lovers as they cycle through different bodies, unhindered by concepts of gender or race. Or perhaps more fittingly, it’s this central love story that helps cut through the overwhelming noise that is Planet Earth.
The lo-fi approach helps capture the constant barrage of eccentricities, emotions, and intense social constructs. That’s before Clark layers in some tongue-in-cheek sci-fi trope subversions, like an entire sequence toying with the origins of alien conspiracies. It’s these moments that, while often funny, underscore the increasingly overstuffed narrative. The Becomers becomes a satire within a satire, nestling social critique within a sci-fi subversion.
In ingenuity and creativity, Clark delivers a winsome genre-bender that’s as likely to make you chuckle as it is to test your gag reflex. The Becomers also earns credit for a rare level of unpredictability. There’s no guessing the trajectory of these lovebirds’ voyage on Earth, though you can bet it concludes on an emotionally satisfying, viscerally jarring note. But it can be tricky to find a foothold in this quirky world, packed with so many talking points that it plays like a revolving door of faces, personalities, and dramatic shifts.
The Becomers made its world premiere at the Fantasia International Film Festival. Release info TBA.
This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movie being covered here wouldn’t exist.