Being (2019)

• Directed by Douglas C. Williams
• Written by Matthew Quinn, Douglas C. Williams 
• Stars Lance Henriksen, Robert John Burke, Ben Browder
• Run Time: 1 Hour, 25 Minutes
• Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMNyQwzH0co

Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone

This seemed like it should have been better than it was. There was too much talk and not enough alien strangeness. It’s got some interesting ideas and cool moments, but mostly it was pretty dull.

Spoilery Synopsis

Reverend Campbell talks to a group of people about something that happened, and he says every bit of it is true. Credits roll. 

A super bright light comes on the barn and then goes out again. At the police station, there’s a man waiting to be interrogated about missing bodies. Two FBI agents, Dixon and Costa, come in to talk to the man. He’s got a record, but he’s been a “ghost” for the past six years. Joseph explain that it wasn’t him; it was “them.” 

We flashback to Joseph waking up, disoriented. He gets mental flashes of something alien. Later, Dale, Dennis, Tanya, and some friends come over, and there’s some drama. 

We cut back to the FBI, now questioning Dale. Back at the party, all the power goes off in the farmhouse where the group has gathered. The family bickers and argues, and they all noticed their phones are dead as well. So are the flashlights and everything electric. Everyone seems needlessly hostile to each other, and you have to wonder why they got together in the first place. They all hate Joseph for abandoning them; the even had a funeral for him, but he says “it’s complicated.” 

Joseph calls the sheriff on the landline. The sheriff is skeptical about where Joseph’s been all these years. Joseph then goes out to the barn, where his brothers put all his stuff after he “died.” 

The brothers have a semi-religious discussion about who has the power in town. Apparently, it’s all about who owns a car and who doesn’t. In the barn, Joseph talks to Grace, his former girlfriend, who is now married to Dale and carrying Dale’s child. Joseph tells her he doesn;t know where he’s been. 

All the brothers go “coon hunting” in the auto shop and see something that’s not quite human. They shoot it, but then Tanya shoots Alan by accident. Everyone comes back into the house, and Carl’s talking about things that “human eyes were not meant to see. I’m talking about demons!” Joseph knows more than he’s telling, but Carl won’t let anyone leave the house to get help for Dale.

Joseph asks the creature outside to take him back again. “I understand now.” Dale hallucinates a conversation with the sheriff and the preacher. Suddenly, Tanya’s eyes turn white and Grace reports that Dale has died. Carl still insists that it’s the apocalypse, and Tanya starts getting all cryptic. 

Joseph finally tells his story to Grace. Six years ago, “it” came for him. It took him to a place where he knew everything. It’s not a demon, “It’s beyond our labels. It’s beyond space and time.” Dale overhears the conversation, and now he wants the three of them to leave together, no matter what Carl says. 

Carl enters with his revolver. He admits that he just shot Dennis outside, and then Grace whacks him with a shovel. Suddenly, there’s a bright light from outside and Joseph goes into the light. Grace wants to go too, but she ends up getting shot in the head. 

In the morning, Grace wakes up and says she hasn’t seen Dale in so long. Dale wants to know what happened to the baby. What baby? Where’s Carl? 

They all figure out that Grace doesn’t remember having a relationship with Dale at all. She’s been reset to when she was with Joseph. “That’s what it does. It doles out mercy. Its ways are not our ways.” 

Back in the FBI room, the agents are not impressed with the story. They find Dennis, and he’s going to live. Alan is still dead. Tanya’s out in the field as well, with white eyes and looking a little insane. The FBI releases Joseph. 

The sheriff tells the whole story to the reverend, who tells him to bury the truth. “In time, this will all just go away, just like before.” Turns out, the FBI guys have seen this before, and they also want to contain it. 

Commentary

Lance Henriksen, the top-billed star, gets less than two minutes of screen time. 

It’s sooooo talky and slow. Everyone in this family seems to hate each other, and all they do is fight. Carl’s a religious nut who insists that he doesn’t believe anything. Dale just goes along with everything Carl says. Dennis is a wimp who won’t stand up to anyone, and everyone just hates Joseph. 

It seems vaguely religious, but not really, not exactly. It wants to be profound and fails badly. 

It’s not a terrible story “on paper,” but it’s very poorly directed and paced. Most of all, it’s DULL.