Review by Josh Felty
Last year was quite the year for science fiction. District 9 was a brutal reminder that independent film can achieve as much as the big dogs, as CG effects have become so much more cost-efficient. The Star Trek reboot of sorts reminded us that while Tinseltown has become remake-city, there is no replacement for a good story when it's placed in the right hands. The Sci-Fi Channel changed its name to SyFy, redefining their direction in the process. Avatar rounded out 2009 with another wake-up call: that the big dogs can still spend hundreds of millions to retell the Dances with Wolves/Pocahontas story in 3D, and not only justify the existence of the Great Hollywood Machine, but clean up with enough to cover the budget. In some of my past reviews, I've pushed for the importance of story and character development and social significance in films...blah, blah, blah. When it comes down to it, there's good movies and there's bad ones.
Inalienable is a work in a similar vein as The Thing or District 9, in that it's about an alien being coming to our world and attaching itself to our own, whether it's taking up shelter in our back yard or in our central nervous system. First off, this flick has quite an all-star cast with plenty of sci-fi credibility on their own: Patricia Tallman of Babylon 5, Marina Sirtis of Star Trek: The Next Generation fame, and Richard Hatch of Battlestar Gallactica. Practically a who's-who of Sci-Fi Channel (I'm sorry, SyFy) fame. The thing that will probably interest most sci-fi fans is that all this was penned by Walter Kroenig, or Pavel Andreievich Chekov of the original Star Trek series. It goes without saying that InAlienable has a lot more direction and heart than gore and tech-babble; whether that falls on deaf ears or not to movie-goers is beyond reckoning.
Hatch plays Dr. Eric Norris, a researcher with a lab full of chimpanzees and mice, who has suffered the awful tragedy of losing his wife and child in a car accident. The doctor obtains a bizarre meteorite from a colleague, one which infects him with an extraterrestrial parasite hellbent on bursting through his skin. Norris is accompanied by a sassy blond co-researcher, whom provides a romantic and professional interest. Funnily enough, InAlienable bears a striking resemblance in plot to Track of the Moon Beast, a hilarious B-movie riffed over on Mystery Science Theater 3000. But this is far better of a film, believe you me.
The usual transpires after Norris' discovery that he may lose his life if this parasite is not rid of soon. Before long, things turn dark as the doctor finds he cannot harm himself in any form and that his life is not in jeopardy as much as he thought. As the parasite growing inside him is birthed from its human host, spilling out into a world that does not understand it or Norris at all. He finds himself giving up the alien baby to sterilized government research, incapable of differentiating the ET child from his own deceased son. Sure, there are some cheesy lines, a reference to the X-Files, and weird little moments sprinkled throughout. But all in all, InAlienable is an interesting speculative look at how damn scary parasites (and government red tape) can be. Especially when those parasites fall from the sky. The remainder of the movie plays out as a courtroom drama, complete with the discussion of certain "inalienable rights" that gives this picture its name. Touching and incredibly thought-provoking, InAlienable shines first as a drama, then a science fiction vehicle. It challenges us to consider what it is to not only be human, but to be the best we can be by standing for what is right. Not only on this world, but in the entire universe. 6/10