The largest mass UFO sighting in the US was on March 13, 1997, in Arizona. It was called the Phoenix Lights. Writer/Director Adam Finberg uses that event as a curious … What If? scenario. What if the sighting was a formation of legitimate UFOs? What if, in their investigation of Earth, these UFOs could interact with situations… like immigration, neglected children, drug addiction, and corruption?
Enter arguing parents, ignoring their children cuddled outside, late at night, in a single patio chair. The younger boy begins to doze while the older sister, Claire (Kat Cunning), softly lifts herself from their shared chair and heads to the backyard fence, mesmerized by a line of seven bright lights coming closer until they envelope her in their “arms.”
Twenty-seven years later, we meet up with the brother, Taylor, now an unemployed, homeless drug addict, and his sister, Claire, a photographer obsessed with UFOs. We quickly learn that their father had abandoned the family, and that their mother had overdosed in a suicide years ago. This is how they became part of the revolving door foster system.
But now they are out, and Claire has been alerted about a photo opportunity of UFOs out in the Saguaro Desert. She takes her boyfriend, and reluctantly, her troubled brother, out in her Land Rover to an isolated, abandoned (so she thought) home where they meet up with illegals suffering from dehydration after their treacherous desert passage into the US.
Added to this mix are two men feigning friendliness, but looking for drugs illegals might carry.
This is meaty material to cover for Finberg’s first-time feature film. A native of Phoenix but schooled at the American Film Institute’s directing program in LA, Finberg has worked the last 20 years as a writer, director and editor. He was prepared for this current exceptionally well-acted, well-written, well-crafted challenge dealing with America’s core foundational sickness -the inhumane way we treat other people – even our children.
But wait – it isn’t dismal and dark. Carried by the charisma of Kat Cunning, who plays Claire, this film juxtaposes the inhumanity of some with the hope and compassion of others. McCabe Slye, as Taylor, brings his powerful presence to drive home the need we have in our society to care for each other. The role of the seven UFOs and their gift provides “Star People” with a surprising brilliance. Go see it. It’s worth it.
Credits
Writer/Director: Adam Finberg
Producers: Adam Finberg and Josh Shader
Cast: Actor and recording artist Kat Cunning (The Deuce, On Swift Horses), McCabe Slye (Destroyer, Fear Street Trilogy), Connor Paolo (The Last Stop in Yuma County, Revenge, Gossip Girl), Eddie Martinez (The Sinner, Night Swim), Bradley Fisher (Westworld), and Adriana Aluna Martinez (Duster)
Release: In theaters July 25 and VOD Aug. 12
Website and how to view: https://www.facebook.com/starpeople
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