TIFF 2021 film review: 'Encounter'

Riz Ahmed stars as a desperate father trying to rescue his estranged sons in the mystery sci-fi thriller 'Encounter' (screening during the 46th Toronto International Film Festival).

In short: Marine Malik (Ahmed, 'Sound of Metal') goes on a rescue mission to save his two young sons from an alien threat - even if that means he has to take them from their mom's home.

At its core, the first act can be distilled down to: father tries to save his sons from an alien invasion. The stakes so high and the danger theoretically everywhere ... yet 'Encounter' has almost no sense of urgency. Everything about the first act is so vague, the only aspect of the movie that the audience can firmly grasp onto is Malik's certainty that aliens are infecting humanity.

Because of the film's mystery aspect, this spoiler-free review will not reveal any of the film's plot turns. Just about 50 minutes into the runtime the film dramatically changes the film's shift and tone -- but the pivot is so sharp that it also redefines the very genre of 'Encounter.' Switching tracks so abruptly and entirely is incredibly risky for any film because it fundamentally means misleading the audience.

The second half of 'Encounter' is really the story writer-director Michael Pearce wanted to tell - but the first-half misfire makes the film feel gutless. If it had any conviction, 'Encounter' would have been honest and upfront to the audience from start to finish. Pivoting from the protagonist's characterization doesn't really work even as the tone shifts from high-concept thriller to character drama - because the script goes out of its way to both vilify and protect its protagonist.

Everything about the first act is designed maximize empathy and manipulate the audience. Pearce's script seems to play coy with the alien threat plotline - yet it explicitly drops numerous seeds that perfectly line up with an alien invasion. Consider 'Fight Club': the reveal that the Narrator is Tyler Durden radically blows up 'Fight Club.' It's subtle hints also make the film a blast on second viewing. In contrast, news footage of riots and focusing in on swarms of insects ... is just 'Encounter' lying to its audience. It's OK if an unreliable narrator lies or deceives the audience - but it's outright manipulation when the filmmaker himself distorts on-screen events to align with a character's lies.

Malik's self-assigned mission to protect his children at all costs absolutely requires buy-in from the audience because the audience has to totally be onboard with the concept of a father's willingness to do anything for his children - even if it means rescuing them from their possibly-infected parents. Unfortunately, for a lot of reasons, the first act never totally gets the audience on Malik's side. He has a wild-sounding theory that legitimizes his actions ... but virtually no evidence.

Oh, and aside from inelegantly presenting information to the audience, Octavia Spencer has little to nothing to do in this film. Her character exists only to tell the audience how to feel about the protagonist. A better script could have just let the protagonist's actions inform how the audience should feel about him.

Final verdict: 'Encounter' is a misguided character study masquerading as a genre flick ... that dredges up empathy only by lying to the audience.

Score: 2.5/5

'Encounter' screens during TIFF 2021. This drama is not yet rated and has a running time of 108 minutes.