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There’s nothing quite like a family road trip as a kid: the new sights and experiences, the hotel pools, the junk food. But in Encounter, two young boys find themselves on a road trip with a dad who’s determined to keep them safe from an otherworldly threat.
Encounter goes on the run with Malik (Riz Ahmed) and his two young sons. Jay (Lucian-River Chauhan) and his little brother, Bobby (Aditya Geddada), live with their mom and step-dad, but their dad is the cool one—the mysterious, adventurous parent who’s been absent from their lives for the past two years. One night, though, their dad shows up and whisks them away, telling them that it’s an emergency—that he’s come to keep them safe from an invasion of alien insects that have infected their mom. And they suddenly find themselves racing from unseen dangers as they try to reach safety.
Despite the dangers, though, their adventure starts out like any other road trip with the boys. Though they try to stay safe and out of sight—and they use a lot more bug spray than usual—they still have some of the same fun-filled adventures. The kids joke around with their dad, who insists that, on this trip, there will be no bed times—and who says things like, “Sugar does make you hyper. That’s why we like it.”
Still, there are plenty of reminders that this isn’t just a carefree trip—especially for Jay, who understands a little more of the severity of the situation. Malik doesn’t tell the boys the whole story—and he tends to snap if things don’t go as expected. As the story plays out—and as more of the family’s story is revealed—it brings up more and more nagging questions about what’s really going on here. And it becomes clear that not everything is quite as it seems.
Despite its nagging questions, though, there’s something somewhat playful about the film. It has moments of melodrama that sometimes makes it feel like an old sci-fi flick—but it never seems to fully commits to anything: its action, its drama, even a low-budget sci-fi feel. And when it all comes together, it doesn’t do so in a particularly memorable way.
With its underlying peril and its lovably precocious kids, Encounter sets up a tense and mysterious adventure with a playful twist. But while the story is intriguing, it just feels a little off-balance.
You can find Encounter in theaters starting December 3, 2021—and on Amazon Prime Video on December 10, 2021.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
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