Alien Code (2018) User Reviews

Far Better than I though it would be

[nowego · 7/10 · 16 June 2018]

I went into this with the knowledge that it was a low budget movie, but not sure what to expect and enjoyed it far more than I expected to.

Kyle Gallner and Azura Skye, who I did not recognise did an exceptional job with their characters and held my attention throughout, they are both actors I will be looking out for in the future. Mary McCormack was as always solid and believable as a Government Agent, a role she has played regularly in the past.

This movie started out slowly, but quickly built, grabbed and held my attention through to the end.

The acting overall was very solid and way above par for a low budget movie.

Recommended viewing, I would watch this one again.

The end is near

[TheLittleSongbird · 5/10 · 28 September 2018]

Saw 'Alien Code' with no knowledge of what the rating and reviews were prior to watching. What drew me in was that it had one of the most interesting ideas for any low-budget film seen recently and it didn't look too bad from the advertising. Was a little worried at the same time, having seen so many films that waste great potential so badly.

Thankfully, this was something that 'Alien Code' did not do. It didn't fully live up to this potential, but it turned out to be watchable if uneven and somewhat of a mixed bag. One of those films that started off very well, with some surprisingly well done elements that didn't fail as feared, but ran out of steam too early which is a shame.

'Alien Code's' best element is indeed the acting, which is as everybody said well above average. The best performances even very good, with a very strong lead in Kyle Gallner who brings intensity and likeability. Some of the photography was slick and there was some skill in the directing and a natural chemistry between the actors.

It, as aforementioned, started off very well. It was engrossing and had a lot of intrigue and thoughtful moments. The characters may not have been the meatiest but they didn't frustrate and did find it easy to get behind the leads.

Which is why it was unfortunate that the last act especially wasn't up to the same level. It did become over-complicated, as a result of being too ambitious and not doing enough with its ideas, and silly, which made some events and explanations vague and muddled, parts not explained enough or at all.

Much of the dialogue is ropy and underdone as well as more complicated than necessary and the momentum in the pace is not as tight. The low budget does show in particularly the less than special and under-budgeted effects that had a shoestring 80s film look. The ending is ridiculous, confusing and a big anti-climax.

Overall, watchable and initially promising but felt like a different film by the end. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Pretty decent B movie

[rchrdrdr · 6/10 · 3 July 2018]

I was not expecting much, but every now and then a low budget film surprises me. This was one of them. Some ideas were really fun, even if already done before. The acting was really good., the lead actor was especially skilled.

watched yesterday

[deedee-17957 · 13 June 2018]

I watched this movie because I really like Kyle Gallner. He's an amazing underrated actor. This movie held my attention, He does a great job of making this character likeable,and the girl who played Beth did a great job too. Have to say I found the science stuff interesting and even googled some information on time travel theories afterward. The ending was not what I wanted, but this movie was worth a solid 6 out of 10

For a low budget B-movie it's okay

[deloudelouvain · 6/10 · 21 July 2018]

Like someone else stated Alien Code or The Men, or whatever the right title for this movie is, it's a decent movie for a low budget B-movie. I thought the beginning was much better than the ending, but that's my opinion. It starts promising with some mysterious things happening. Things that get your attention, and it's like that for almost the entire movie, that mysterious feeling, but in the end it's just way too complicated to understand. Or I must be a bit too dumb to understand the whole thing, that's also an option. But the movie is watchable, with a good idea for a story, but it could have been much better if developped more. The acting wasn't bad either. Just too bad they didn't show more alien stuff, because that would have made the movie better.

Not too shabby

[staunton-gary · 7/10 · 23 December 2019]

Gave this movie a watch and it turned out to be rather well done. Acting was mostly great and well above average for this type of B-Grade movie and don't let the fact that it is a B-Grade movie stop you watching it. There's no spaceships or us vs them shoot outs, so if you are looking for that type of movie, look elsewhere. After watching so many new movies lately, that are substandard to this movie, I was relieved.

Okay

[nikkigreeley · 4/10 · 24 January 2022]

I thought it was gonna be a low budget movie, and I was right, but it started out quite interesting, and then after about an hour it fizzled. I found myself on my phone not paying attention much. Good try though. Like the whole idea but I think it could have been better if it had a higher budget.

Decrypting the Doomsday Machine

[lavatch · 6/10 · 24 December 2018]

In this low-budget sci fi film, a computer nerd is conscripted into a top secret project to decrypt the meaning of strange machine that has mysteriously appeared in the skies and has been transported to a governmental bunker.

Soon, the young decryption expert gets linked up with others who suspect that the machine may be a doomsday device that is a weapon of mass destruction the likes of which the world has never seen. As the clock is running out, they make a bold attempt to diffuse the machine. As the narrative unfolds, the experts slowly come to realize that they might be dealing with creatures from another world.

The film was obviously made on a shoestring budget, yet the there was some intelligence behind the story. The character developments of Alex and Beth, the two decrypting specialists, were interesting as the characters bonding was heartfelt. On the other hand, the introduction of The Cryptoman (Dr. Miles Driscoll) late in the film culminated in a long, dry monologue in his cabin. This was a clumsy way of providing exposition on the machine and setting up the film's climax.

The best dialogue appeared in those portions of the film that offered existential insights into the parameters of human knowledge and how limited we are in truly knowing the unfathomable secrets of the universe.

Lost interest

[Ioreka · 5/10 · 14 December 2021]

Started well but lost its way big time. I find the trope-y 'brilliant, offbeat genius in full chaotic flow' thing irritating and there is a lot of that. Ultimately the plot and characters are not sufficiently strong to sustain the whole film.

Another Fringe?

[gaz-21309 · 6/10 · 13 June 2018]

Having watched this movie, it reminded me of the tv series Fringe of a few years back. Even down to some of the lines "hello,old friend", and the "baldies" and quantum physics etc. Very enjoyable, but such a shame the ending could have been soooo much better than it was. Worth a watch though if you liked Fringe.

Lead actor is great

[Stealthy-22960 · 5/10 · 7 February 2022]

The lead actor, Gallener is the only reason this movie isn't a 2 or 3. Im unfamiliar with his work, but am impressed with the depth he brings to what could have been a very superficial/surface level character. His costar has some good moments, although she wasn't as consent. The actor who played the agent brought the movie down a bit. Also the extras or MIB were too cliche and on the nose, that it came across EXTREMELY cheesy and cartoonish.

The concept also props up the movie... the sciency dialogues weren't that bad either.... but execution? Whew it needs a lot of work, especially in the final act.

Overall interesting enough to watch.

WORTH IT

[milinskis · 10/10 · 18 June 2018]

I am a sucker when it comes to sci fi movies about time paradox and aliens. This movie explores very interesting topics, its well acted, pacing is good, keeps you invested, doesn't become boring. Believe the hype in reviews, it is solid movie that nobody talks about. I would go even further and say I would enjoy a sequel movie exploring origins and purposes and etc It is really worth your time. I don't understand why it has low rating. Yes it is budget sci fi movie, but i think the story that's most important and not the cinematography and cgi.

A Real Low Budget Gem

[Easygoer10 · 6/10 · 6 January 2019]

I was blown away by how good this film was. Although it is named "Alien Code", on this website it is named "The Men". No matter. A very original film, I give much credit to the writer/director, Richard G. Cooney, along with Kyle Gallner, who played the lead role of "Alex Jacobs". Other than Richard Schiff, who played "Miles Driskoll", & has been on dozens of TV shows & numerous films, I have never seen nor heard of anyone before, including the 2 people I listed first. A must see.

Becomes muddled with endless talk

[phredator · 2/10 · 28 May 2023]

At the start, this movie seems far better than its obviously limited budget. There is a mystery, a puzzle. And our lead begins working it out. Invariably he "solves" it, only to discover that there is far more under the surface. Who made the puzzle, what will solving it do or rather unleash?

And then they switch pretty much entirely into dialogue. Exposition. Talk. Talk. Blah. Blah. What if there's time travel? What if there are aliens? What if there are evil time travelling aliens? Blah blah blah.

Let me put it this way. What if they remade Terminator but didn't have any scenes with the robot? What if you just had a couple of people talk for an hour about how there "might" be a terminator, a Skynet, doomsday. But the movie ends with you never seeing any of it. Just characters sitting in a room talking.

There are authors that can pull that kind of a thing off. Asimov in Nightfall for example. But it's rare. Extremely rare.

This movie is not that rare exception. It goes nowhere and does nothing. Points for at least considering a higher concept. But the authors are no Asimov. And this movie ends up being too long and muddled.

Like sitting down to eat your favourite extra large pizza; tasty, but a lot to digest in one sitting

[jimbo-53-186511 · 6/10 · 29 July 2019]

Cryptographer Alex Jacobs (Kyle Gallner) is recruited by a secret government agency to decode a message that they've managed to intercept from a satellite that has been sent from the future. After Alex has served his purpose, he is swiftly taken back to his former existence but soon starts to have hallucinations and starts questioning what he has decoded and who the company are whom have paid him to carry out the decryption. Alex soon finds himself being stalked by both the government agency and otherworldly beings in his desperate search for answers...

I actually quite liked the idea behind this story (the concept of a government agency getting their hands on something they neither understand or can control is actually quite amusing and for me I wondered if the film was acting as a worrying metaphor on the aforementioned elements). This is quite a good driver for the story and at the start of the film we witness a 'one man in peril' scenario that gradually unfolds into 'several people in peril' as the larger conspiracy begins to unravel. Narratively, it does unfold fairly well and moves along at a reasonable pace so it never quite gets to the point where it becomes boring, but it does come close at times which forms part of the problem.

Given the concept and all of its themes and ideology I did reasonably expect some exposition and analysis, but boy did they go to town here - and I don't mean that in a good way. A lot of the hypothesising was mind-boggling and the exchange towards the end was a little overwhelming - running with the food analogy it's a bit like someone offering you a tub of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream - you consume the first tub happily enough, but then you're offered another tub of ice cream and halfway through the second tub you decide that you've had enough and that you don't want any more. That's exactly what this film is like at times; it's almost like the writers forgot that it was a film that was meant to entertain and decided to turn it into some overly-complicated time-continuum seminar. Don't get me wrong I like to learn things and like to learn things from films, but I'd rather learn in small bite-size amounts rather than in great white shark style chunks. Unfortunately some of the narrative and directorial choices did spoil the film for me somewhat and rendered it far less enjoyable than I'd expected.

To try and an end on a positive note I did quite liked the story and could even see a bit of social commentary buried underneath the rather 'heavy dialogue' and in fairness I did think that Kyle Gallner was really good in the lead role (even though he isn't first billed on IMDB's credit order - huh??). Sadly though The Men/Alien Code is a bit overwritten and a tad over ambitious, but I've given it a pass as I did quite like the story. As I said in my summary, it's a lot to digest in one viewing so I may check it out again in the future and may understand it more on a second viewing. As it stands at the moment though it's a 6 out of 10 for me; watchable but not brilliant.

Reminds me of Primer

[Rick_and_Morty · 7/10 · 1 February 2019]

Years ago I watched a movie called Primer. This reminded me of that movie. This movie gives you the nerdy feeling like you can code computers. And makes you feel like you're solving a puzzle. And then it spins into a sci-fi type time and alternate dimension feelings in your stomach. You think you have it figured out and it changes on you. Budget wise It could have been filmed in my house and at my local college. But was still a really good movie. I never once felt bored. Never felt like it was low budget. The story did not require anything from special effects land. Over all I would recommend to a friend. Worth a mention. The acting was wonderful as well.

Suffers from low budget but not in the typical ways

[johng-90893 · 5/10 · 9 April 2023]

I had a hard time making it all the way through this movie. I usually like these kinds of films and I understand their limitations going into it.

While I understand how hard it is to keep audiences engaged when there are few sets, few characters, etc., this movie doesn't really suffer from those things. It just doesn't have a story that merits a full length movie.

The vast majority of the film is spent filling time and really doesn't add to the plot, answer any questions, add intrigue, or contribute to any other desirable outcome. It really just belabors the same point.

You know those jokes that are too long and that's part of the cringe of it? The joke teller delights in having your attention. This film starts to delve into that territory for me.

This could have worked as a short, but it gets tedious in this format. Very tedious. It had promise, but just not enough interest.

6 stars for decent, albeit over-dramatic performances. Decent use of budget. 4 stars for entertainment value.

A decent movie

[Morrighan1129 · 6/10 · 11 November 2019]

So, there were some definite strong elements to this movie, and some serious weaknesses.

Overall, it was decent. I enjoyed it, I wanted to finish watching it. I wanted to know how it ended. The acting was good over all, with solid performances from Azura Skye and Kyle Gallner. The pacing was decent, although there were some parts that dragged on.

It's not a 'mystery' or even a 'thriller', really. If anything, I would call it a drama film with a heavy dose of Sci-Fi thrown in. There's no great big rush to the end, and there's really one one 'question' in the movie, and I will say it's answered rather poorly, and rather quickly -one of my few serious complaints.

Compelling performances from the two leads. Kyle Gallner plays his part amazingly as the main character, and you can feel and see his desperation growing as the movie goes on. The character of Alex is, over-all, a sympathetic and compelling character. You actually care what happens to him. Azura Skye doesn't get as much screen time, but her acting is excellently done as well.

The biggest reason why I didn't rate this higher is the ending. Once you 'find out' who Cipherman is, the movie starts down hill. The 'reveal' isn't a reveal, but rather the introduction of a new -and very boring -character, who only lasts perhaps fifteen minutes.

From there, it loses momentum, trying to be almost a spy-type thriller for the next ten minutes, and honestly, it throws the feel of the movie off. It's not necessarily 'bad' or 'good' pacing, but it's different enough that it pulled me out of the story, focusing more on 'movie'.

It does pick back up for the last ten minutes of the movie; Kyle's discovery of what is actually going on is very well done, and well-played, although the general ending of the movie is somewhat of a let down.

Over all, it's solid. I recommend watching it at least once. Don't know if I would watch it again, however.

We were not impressed

[elizrug · 4/10 · 21 June 2018]

I thought it started off ok with great acting but the plot quickly got silly and then outright confusing. The special effects of the large alien (?) standing outside the house seemed like something out of a movie from the 80s. And who the hell invites anyone who looks like the two baldies into their home? The ending was lame, too.

the acting is what makes this movie a winner

[attennessee · 7/10 · 17 October 2020]

This film is both minimal yet slick. it's very well edited, moves along at a nice pace, has an interesting plot, a great script and characters who are intelligent and believable -- and who make believable decisions. it held my attention from opening credits to closing credits.

the three main characters, particularly the lead, were flawlessly played. everyone involved in this film was fully committed to and believed in this work and that's what makes this production outstanding.

i am so tired of crappy movies using "low budget" as an excuse. don't pin sloppy lazy work on your financing when thinking is free. THIS is an example of how a low budget movie can still seem like a blockbuster.

i loved it.

7.5/10

Excellent acting but the script was done by a middle schooler

[the_doofy · 5/10 · 7 August 2018]

I am really impressed by how well some of the actors in this movie can act. This movie does show that the most important thing for an actor in a high budget movie is what a person looks like on film. The two main actors in this movie give a much better performance than 99% of the actors U see in a big budget sci fi, but neither of them is really 'good looking', so this is all they get.

In any event, I felt sorry for the actors being let down by such a poor script. The fact that some viewers herald this movie as intellectual is an indicator of how brainless movie viewers have become.==The main character is able to come back from the 'moment' dimension and leave a message for himself explaining everything. Then he dies, THEN he comes back before he dies and sees the message and is able to change what is going to happen. The Problem here is he comes back twice, this is never explained. -However this is not the worst problem with the script.

The aliens exist in a single moment, and yet they are able to design extremely complex blue prints, which could never occur in a single moment. If a viewer wants to argue that within the moment that time is linear for the aliens, allowing them time to develop and reason, THEN they would never be consumed with knowing about beings who exist in a linear time.

So U see the script was just something yanked out to be 'cool' but was never done for thoughtful reasons, in the end the script is just another Hollywood crowd pleaser

Pretty Dang Solid, Great Acting

[hsjones2112 · 8/10 · 13 June 2018]

I have no idea why the overall rating for this on IMDb is so low. This is pretty solid SF, and the two lead actors are excellent. Maybe viewers got hung up on the "accuracy" of tech details regarding computing and cryptography. From that perspective, I can say as a former systems engineer and software product manager (albeit neither a coder or a cryptographer) that the tech representation is perfectly adequate for the storyline. The discussion of NSA back doors -- one developer who worked for a company that complied and one that worked for a company that did not comply -- is somewhat off the mark from what actually happened in this country with the Dual EC DRBG standard. But this *is* a work of fiction, and subversion of the type depicted in "Alien Code" remains one of the greatest threats to cyber security.

I recommend this for the fascinating exploration of time, human consciousness, and what creatures who live in a higher dimension, where time is a point not a line, might be like. Not to mention that the story has a great pace and engaging characters.

Thumbs up!

Great story

[smunden-14287 · 7/10 · 17 May 2019]

This film had good acting and a great intelligent story that is not hard to follow and although I did enjoy the film it had to me a terrible element which almost made it unwatchable. The music score was horrendous, worse than any made for tv movie and at times reminded me of Tom and Jerry. Alien code is still a film I would recommend to any sci fi film fan that enjoys a more cerebral science fiction film.

Don't waste your time

[karateguys · 1/10 · 6 December 2020]

Mindless gibberish posing as philosophy delivered via a bland and forgettable script.

Came for the code, stayed for the heady plot

[kennbr · 6/10 · 30 August 2019]

Okay I have to admit I'm a cryptography nerd, and I was looking for sci-fi films and couldn't help but want to give this a try when I read the plot summary. My immediate reaction was, "Oh boy I can't wait to see what kind of BS movie-software and psuedo-technical drivel this will have," but I was really surprised. This movie actually uses real-world software and cryptography primitives, even showcasing some seemingly functional Java code. Though, I will say that I doubt the world's best cryptographer is going to be using the primitives he chose.

Anyway, the technical aspects of it are not a really substantial feature of the film, but I found the plot itself pretty interesting. It's not the most original idea, and the story-telling kind of leaves some loose ends, but I suppose whether you feel if they're resolved or not depends on your interpretation of the final scene, which has some rather heady postulating--think 'The Matrix Reloaded' scene with Colonel Sanders' look alike, but less pedantic.

I thought the acting could have been better, and I couldn't stand the main protagonist's appearance. His affinity for scotch and beer was touching though. Overall I found it an entertaining story, and a refreshing change in the aspect of its technical details. If you were like me and were hoping to have a laugh at ridiculously fake tech you'll be disappointed in that, but the actual story itself you might find worth a watch.