Into the Sky is an endearing sci-fi comedy about alien abduction (Fantastic Fest 2026)
Into the Sky isn't your typical alien movie. Yes, it contains alien abductions, which leave abductees abandoned in corn fields with blue goop covering their body, but more than anything, the film is an endearing indie movie that's charming and funny.
Directed and written by Evan Buxbaum and Drew Mylrea, Into the Sky stars comedian Sam Richardson as Bobby, an everyman who's frequently abducted by aliens that we never see in the film. No matter what he does or how he tries to resist them, they keep finding him, snatching him, and then dumping him in various states, leaving him to find his way back home. Because of his frequent disappearances, his wife, Brittany (Fiona Rene), has gone MIA and even rented out their home to the high-strung Nico (Sofia Black-D'Elia), who's charged with planning her brother's wedding. She also wants to improve her standing with her family, who generally views her as a screw-up. Meanwhile, Bobby agrees to help Nico by pretending to be the head of a major music festival and Nico's employer. In her family's eyes, this will make her look good, like she's responsible enough to help plan a major music festival and thus, her brother's wedding.
There's a lot of jokes throughout the film and some real chemistry between Nico and Bobby, who meet in the strangest of situations, and the sexual tension between the two becomes obvious by the halfway point. Additionally, the film takes on an even more absurd layer once David Cross' Jaden is introduced. He's a fellow abductee who meets Bobby after they're both dumped in the same corn field post-abduction and have to return home. Jaden, however, has been scheming how to destroy the aliens and stop the abductions, and he insists that Bobby help him, even if Bobby just wants to reconnect with his wife.
More than anything, Into the Sky is a comedy, especially when you consider the cast, Cross and Robinson specifically. For the most part, the jokes land, and to an extent, the film works as a spoof of other alien abduction and sci-fi movies. In this case, the movie centers around a likeable character just trying to live his life, but the aliens keep screwing it up, and as a result, he's lost touch with his wife. Cross' character, Jaden, meanwhile, comes across like a conspiracy nut, but you can't blame the guy for wanting to beat the ETs at their own game so he too could go on living his life. Besides Cross and Richardson, the other highlight here is Black-D'Elia in terms of performances. She gives Nico an edge, and the scenes with Nico's family are absolutely hilarious. Yet, without spoiling anything, I will add that the movie has some real romance in it, and there's a relationship that forms by the last act that's totally worth rooting for, even though it's outcome will likely be predictable to audiences.
Into the Sky isn't your typical alien abduction movie. Sure, it plays with some of those familiar tropes, but the movie is a comedy with a dash of romance more than anything else. However, for all of the absurdity and laughs, and there's plenty, it's really Richardson's performance that grounds the movie. He gives Bobby a likeable quality as a character just trying his best not to mess up and get his life back on track, but those damn aliens just won't let him. Overall, this is a film with a lot of heart, laughs, and blue goop.
Into the Sky just screened at Fantastic Fest 2026.
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