Alternate Ground – Mystery Everywhere
Director: Daniel Groom
Starring: Owen Myre, Ethan Boucher, Paul Noonan, Zachariah Supka, Devin Henry, Patience McStravick, Michael Anthony Coppola, Demitra Papadinis
Plot: When a teenage boy is found after disappearing overnight, his unexplained behavior causes concern within the family, and a lack of medical answers leads to a revelation of alien abduction.
Tagline – They need us…Anybody
Runtime: 1 Hour 32 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Alternate Ground starts when Riley McDowell (Myre) suddenly goes missing with his whole family searching for the young boy, his brother Bradley (Boucher) and parents Arthur (Coppola) and Joyce (Papadinis).
When Riley is found, he does seem to be different, with a darker side, losing spells of time, without any explanation. As everyone is searching for answers, Riley starts to show the effects what happened during his disappearance.
Thoughts on Alternate Ground
Characters & Performances – Riley McDowell is the boy that vanished suddenly overnight, only to be found on the edge of the road in a panicked state. His family are concerned about him, as he starts having spells of blacking out, events happening without anyone else knowing how to explain the events. The blackout will cause him great pain, as each visit will becoming more vivid and dangerous for Riley, as he tries to explain what he is going through. Owen Myre does give us a performance that is filled with the paranoia his character is going through during the events of the film. Arthur and Joyce are his parents that will do anything to help find answers, pushing past what they are willing to believe in search for the answers they need to save their son. Bradley is the older brother who is more reluctant to help as he doesn’t believe as easily to what is happening, before needing to step up and help. When we meet the rest of the characters, we have different people who will help in different ways along the way, some with real science, some with the truth, the mix involved will keep us guessing as to what is really happening.
Story – The story here follows a young boy that disappears overnight and is found without memories of how he ended up away from the home. The family will search for answers, but not everything is as simple as expected in this search. This is a story that will look to work on the ideas of abductions that can’t be explained, using the reports to create a story to show the troubles people would have been through when they reappear without answers, where most people can’t give them any answers, but something isn’t right with the person. This will give us plenty of mystery about the truth, where each interaction might offer something different.
Themes – Alternate Ground is a sci-fi mystery that will use the concepts of the stories of alien abductions, showing the side effects of what might have happened, leaning more towards the mystery, rather than using too much sci-fi side of things. The remote location will play into what is expected to be behind the alien abduction stories.
Final Thoughts – Alternate Ground is a mystery that will keep us guessing behind the abduction.
