Why did the light shine on the pregnant woman's belly? What relevance does that have to everything that came before it? Why did the film end with a flashback (is it a Mobius strip, in which the survivor is forced to relive the sequence of events over and over, as a kind of moral catharsis?) And why be so vague? This wasn't vague in a pleasurable, mind-bending, Lynchian way. It just felt like sloppy writing and directing, and it was especially annoying that I couldn't tell the characters apart for most of the film's length, and by the end, I couldn't really identify the one dude who survived. Point blank: great premise, badly executed.
Why did the light shine on the pregnant woman's belly? What relevance does that have to everything that came before it?
Because the baby was still alive, so two lives left, meaning a tie - the lights shining on him and the belly mean a tie. He had to kill one more life to win, and he did by voting. How was that not clear?
Why did the film end with a flashback (is it a Mobius strip, in which the survivor is forced to relive the sequence of events over and over, as a kind of moral catharsis?)
That wasn't a flashback, that was him being delivered back to earth with other survivors - notice how many of the survivors were pregnant women or kids?
And why be so vague? This wasn't vague in a pleasurable, mind-bending, Lynchian way.
First of all, why do you need everything explained to you? Some of the best films are ones that don't give you all the answers. This was a fantastic example of lo-fi sci-fi. It keeps you guessing and you're never quite sure where it's going to end up.
It just felt like sloppy writing and directing, and it was especially annoying that I couldn't tell the characters apart for most of the film's length, and by the end, I couldn't really identify the one dude who survived. Point blank: great premise, badly executed.
Sloppy writing and directing? I wouldn't agree with that at all. This is absolutely a low budget production, but the directing and especially the editing are very smartly done. And not sure why you'd have trouble telling characters apart, seemed pretty easy to me, they were are purposely dressed and groomed differently so as not to look alike - hair color, hairstyle, clothing, ethnicity, quite varied. Sorry you didn't like what they did here, I know I and many others thought it was pretty brilliant.
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Agreed. Well put Niceguy. When it ended I wanted more. But not in a way that I thought the ending needed anything. As for understanding what the ET's wanted: (not that that is the point of the film) I wonder if anyone else thought it was as simple as the aliens coming to cull great numbers from the population, perhaps in an effort to help with the longevity of the species.
Great question regarding the guy showing up at the end with others looking up as the spaceship. That confused me as well. But "Niceguy" is correct, upon 2nd viewing and the narrative the Director is pointing out that he survived.
Just ignore the later unnecessary douchey responses to your post; the viewer shouldn't need to wrack their brain, read forums or watch a movie 2x to enjoy it. That's why it's called entertainment. Let these keyboard courage warriors carry-on, sheesh.