From Omeleto.
A man gets a message.
IT’S NOT YOU… IT’S THE ALIENS is used with permission from Taylor Miller. Learn more at https://tayloranthonymiller.com.
John has gotten a message from extraterrestrials. Both shaken and amazed, he shares the message with his girlfriend, Frankie. The first parts of the message are about humanity in general. But the final part is very personal: John should break up with Frankie.
This results in an argument between the couple, which opens up a chasm between them. Frankie is shocked by John’s news and message, but then she’s angered that John is breaking up with her under the impetus of such an outlandish conceit. But John is forced to be honest about his feelings — even if that means rupturing the comfortable but stagnant bubble he’s been living in.
Directed by Taylor Miller, this witty, inventive short dramedy blends sci-fi absurdity with painfully recognizable emotional truth. Framed as the aftermath of a quirky extraterrestrial encounter and filmed with a shadowy naturalism, the film is a Moebius strip that shapeshifts from a goofy portrait of a perhaps delusional slacker into a raw, relatable relationship drama, in which uncomfortable truths finally come to light.
Much of the film’s wit is rooted in its writing, which cleverly retools the language of alien communication into a metaphor for modern relationships, emotional avoidance, and the narratives people construct to evade painful truths. John’s initial story is outlandish and about what you’d expect at first, with messages about how our planet is ailing. But the narrative takes an unexpected twist when John reveals that the aliens have given him relationship advice. That advice leaves Frankie aghast and angry, and the two get into a ferocious argument.
As John and Frankie, respectively, actors Taylor Anthony Miller and Lauren Sowa deftly hit the comical notes of the situation, but their performances are grounded more in the emotional truth of a couple whose buried resentments and judgments come to the fore, creating reactions and counter-reactions of hurt and anger. Beneath the humor lies a sharp observation about how people will tell themselves any story to avoid painful emotion, and how telling a hurtful but real truth will destabilize the comfortable rut they’ve taken refuge from life within. Blaming aliens is funny, but it’s also relatable to anyone who’s ever been avoidant, or been in a relationship with someone who was.
Wry, a little silly and briskly engaging, IT’S NOT YOU… IT’S THE ALIENS has an unexpected emotional intelligence about how it feels to approach gnarly yet undeniable truths about ourselves and our relationships. It’s difficult work, especially when you know it will change your life profoundly and hurt others. Ultimately, the storytelling is quite compassionate and understanding of both sides of a discussion like this. But it’s also insightful on how avoiding these truths can keep us stuck in life. The film may end with a bit of a punchline — and a bit rueful for the ludicrous way it leaves things for John and Frankie — but wherever John ends up, we hope he’s learned something about honesty, both with himself and with others.
