The Fourth Kind

Olatunde Osunsanmi’s The Fourth Kind was marketed with the archival footage validity that suggested its truth superior to that of Blair Witch or others of the sort. Finding itself released shortly after Paranormal Activity may not have been detrimental to its not too dissimilar delivery. And where the much over hyped subjective footage fest becomes a dull bore , Osunsamni’s film only fares slightly better.

The immediate reaction to the conclusion of this film, or rather in its midst, is one of feeling cheated. The supposedly real archival footage of psychologist Abigail Tyler comes off as a cheap attempt at purported actuality. As it happens, she looks too much like an alien to pass as someone supposedly abducted by one. The lighting is so blatantly ambient and practical that it becomes an oversaturated but dull contrast to the rest of the film. The diegetic narrative is saturated with yellows and blue and makes the mistake of introducing its characters by naming the actors that portray them. A quick search of the film reveals that none of the supposed footage is real, nor was it even filmed in Nome, Alaska, nor did the psychologist actually exist.

For a film named as it is, clearly referring to alien activity, the beings themselves are notably absent save for a few shadows and noisy audio. To call this a science fiction film almost mislabels it. With a few major events to the contrary, one could almost read this film as entirely psychological, the events pertaining to nothing more than the mind and its creations.

Justifying one’s time in dealing with this film comes not from the narrative itself but from the film’s relationship to viewers. Creating a large viral marketing campaign is not new. Well, it’s kind of new, but is has been done with the supposed found footage of horror films. What this film does, in surpassing the others, is claim the events to be real. It states, as a matter of fact, that the events are based of off archival footage shot by Tyler. It is of supreme disappointment to find out the contrary. We should ask ourselves, then, what should we expect from a filmmaker in terms of honesty? Nowhere in the closing credits does it disclaim itself as not being based on actual events, nor does claim to be based on a true story. Yet the pre-release marketing, even the fourth wall-shattering introduction by Milla Jovovich, states that the story’s content is indeed true.

I will not suggest that I am expecting the truth from a fiction film, even one based on a true story. But to a degree I am expecting the truth about the truth. The viral marketing campaign has produced some fantastic results; District 9 seems to do it all correctly. The Fourth Kind’s claims, while at first intriguing, become fraudulent with the film’s conclusion and erase any curiosity they may have at first warranted. The result is that, rather than discuss the film’s narrative and techniques, I prefer not to spend anytime with the film itself.