THE GENERAL IDEA

Is the terribly troubled Wyatt (MacLeod Andrews) a complete nut job or are there really diabolically disguised monsters all about us intending to take over our planet? This is the unusually intriguing and engagingly executed premise driving the indy horror drama “They Look Like People”.

THE GOOD

Virtual feature flick newcomers Andrews, Evan Dumouchel and Margaret Ying Drake are uniformly superb as the main characters. They’re manner of speaking and interaction is entirely innate and natural, when the scenes don’t skew toward the supernatural, that is.

This is a consistently compelling story being told here. One that serves to substantiate that we are all psychologically fragile to some degree and in our own way. It is how well we deal with these frailties, or moreover how those who care about us help us contend with our instability, that so often times determines the capacity to not just cope with, but ideally overcome, our individual challenges.

THE BAD

We come to learn as this tale unfolds that Dumouchel’s character of Christian has dealt with issues of being less than masculine in his past. And this has evidently proved to be a problem of significant proportion for him. However, we never gain a clear idea about any specifics in this regard. Just that it is what it is. Exploring the personal demons clearly haunting Christian in a more comprehensive manner is an opportunity conspicuously missed in “They Look Like People”.

OVERALL

First time full-length film director Perry Blackshear writes and directs along with having a hand in just about everything else there could possibly be to do in making a movie. I suggest you put him on your radar. If “They Look Like People” is any sort of indication, this is a crazy creative talent we’ll be seeing and hearing a lot more from in the years to come.