IMDb meta-data is runtime of 1h and 54m rated 6.4 by 8,400 cinemtizens.
Genre: Sci Fi.
DNA: Sweden.
Verdict: Diverting.
Tagline: The worm (hole) turned.
After her father disappears in the north woods one night UFO chasing, a young girl becomes obsessed with finding him. (There is neither wife nor mother in evidence.) In so doing she teams up with a group of misfit UFOlogists.
Her determination to do something — anything! everything! right now! — to find dad brings tensions to the group which has functioned more as a sheltered workshop for its members than an investigative project. Apple carts go flying. The weather and the bureau of meteorology figure in the story.
It all hinges on the adolescent lead who carries the picture. She is not in every scene but when she is there is an energy and urgency.
There are many chases, usually the police interfering with their illegal activities to secure data. Action fans will be satisfied. Me, not so much.
Quadruple ending as if the writer/director couldn’t let go made it far too long. Alain Resnais once said something like if you can’t tell a story in 90 minutes, you don’t know what story you are telling.
About the plot: Was the weather bureau involved in some kind of conspiracy? Why was the meteorologist a crucial character and then dropped? Apart from his lugubrious name what was Jonah (Gunner) doing? Does a patrol officer have that much authority? After the journey why didn’t daddy’s girl follow him? Pick, pick, pick, I know.
I enjoyed it. Enuf said.
***
The supercilious and condescending review on the Ebert platform is, well, not something the dean himself would have condoned. Too many reviewers are so jaded they can’t see what it in front of them. I admit this review was intelligible, unlike many I have read in the name of Ebert which are incoherent, written to show peers how clever they are, not to inform movie viewers but reviews are supposed to be for viewers.
Swedish made but spoken in English for the international market. So I thought. Turns out to be more complicated. It was made in Swedish and then Ai dubbed with Swedish accents and edited with lip sync to correspond. Had me fooled. Seeing is no longer believing. If ever it was.
By the way, pay attention to the ear tag on that cow. Like the title, it is part of the tribute to the genre. The title? Oh, those are the last words of The Thing (1951) one of the best Sci Fi movies. The number? Well those that know know….