My Review of "Extinction"

I don't know what's up with my selection of films lately but I'm really getting into Science Fiction movies. I looked at the description and watched the trailer for Extinction and I got a little excited. This movie had come out back in 2018 but without too much hype surrounding it. I wasn't too sure about this movie as the last Netflix exclusive movie that I watched, "This is How it Ends" was kind of a let down.

We're all in quarantine and have tons of time on our hands so why not check it out. I actually wasn't disappointed that I got to check it out. It has some pretty interesting ideas and for the most part it was a pretty enjoyable movie.

The whole premise of the movie is based on the main character named Peter, played by Michael Pena. He has a pretty nice life living with a successful wife by the name of Alice, played by Lizzy Caplan. They have two children by the names of Hannah and Lucy, played by Amelia Crouch and Erica Tremblay respectively.

The only problem with Peter is that he keeps having these horrible nightmares of some sort of invasion. Alice and his co-workers encourage him to get help but there's something inside him that tells him these dreams might be premonitions of the future. If they are premonitions then they all really have to get ready for some sort of space invasion.

Due to his sporadic nightmares he's sort of neglects the needs of his family and it's starting to take a toll on the family. He's constantly apologizing to the family for not being there for them and making them concerned for his well being. Finally enough was enough and he decides to go to a psychiatrist to fix it. Once he goes to the clinic he meets up with another patient and the other patient assures Peter that these dreams have significance just as Peter thought.

So Peter goes back home without going to actually see the psychiatrist and his family is having a dinner party to celebrate Alice's job. Soon after that his premonitions come true to life. A swarm of aliens start attacking their city.

This movie was pretty much everything I was hoping it would be. I thought the acting was pretty on point especially with the kids. There are some twists and turns to the plot that I thought were pretty cleverly done. They also talk about certain concepts about love and family.

There are a few moral ambiguities that they kind of wrestle with and you don't really get the definitive answer of who is right and wrong by the end of the movie. I don't think you're supposed to know what's right and what's wrong. There seems to be no way for the groups to compromise with one another which is a little crazy but that's probably my only gripe about the end of the movie.

I liked how they revealed certain aspects of the movie and I liked that they were pretty creative with their approach to the movie. The twist is kind of predictable because they give you a few clues throughout the movie to guess what was going to happen. I still liked the reveal of the twist despite being somewhat predictable.

The special effects where pretty seamless as well. I thought that this movie was made pretty well. There aren't too many loose holes in the plot that make it glaringly bad. It worked and I'm glad these movies have a platform like Netflix to be made. Quite honestly, I don't think movies like this would be made by other big movie makers because it's pretty out there.

Overall, I really enjoyed this movie. It was entertaining from start to finish. The actors did a great job bringing some mystery to their characters. They made me empathize with them despite the twists that happen later on in the movie. I have to give this movie a 7.5 out of 10. I would suggest this to anyone that's interested in watching a sci-fi movie and has a subscription to Netflix. There aren't that many sci-fi movie's out on streaming right now so it's pretty slim pickings.