Synopsis
A lonely woman saves an alien who cannot experience emotions. As she tries to teach it what love is, she discovers that you can’t teach what you don’t know yourself.
A Satisfying Gut-Punch that Subverts a Familiar Trope
Written and directed by Mikhail Saburov, Like Us is an absolute gut-punch in the best way. After witnessing a spaceship crash near her house, Kathie (Louise Martin) rescues the now-stranded alien, Rogl (Sigrid Owen), and nurses her back to health. In the process, Kathie teaches Rogle about humanity – about emotions, familial bonds, etc. At first, Like Us seems like it’s going to slot in nicely alongside any number of similar stories, where a human has to teach an alien/robot/supernatural being how to be human. And the parts of the movie that do adhere to that trope are an absolute delight. Louise Martin and Sigrid Owen share such an immediate rapport with one another that I could easily imagine spending an entire feature-length film with them.
But then there’s a turn – not one that comes out of left-field, though, but one that feels perfectly teed up. In hindsight, it’s clear how Saburov spent those early scenes building up to this turn. There’s a sort of melancholy that underscores all of those early scenes. A sadness that’s boiling right on the edges of the short. And so when that turn comes, it ends up being a super satisfying subversion of the trope rather than a disorienting one. And it hits you in the gut like a freight train. Much of the film’s visuals are understated, with the more explicit sci-fi elements hiding off-screen. Instead, Like Us focuses squarely on its characters. It’s a quiet, emotionally-charged short. And on every level, it works brilliantly. It’s a great watch whether or not you’re a sci-fi junkie.
Rating: 5/5
Like Us is available as part of “AFI Conservatory Showcase 2” at AFI Fest 2021.
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Part-time writer, part-time theatre nerd, full-time dork.
