You won't be disappointed!

Too much of everything

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Despite my drab summary line this is not just another apocalypse movie. It's a highly intelligent realization of a possible future alien contact scenario that is credit to all those involved. The characters aren't perfect, and therein lies its beauty. The boy is slightly to very selfish in his practical appraisal of life, which sways from shallow to understandably deep, whilst the girl is caring enough to generally see past this issue toward a more optimistic view, whilst at the same time being sufficiently combative (she doesn't let him get away with it) to keep one interested. The relationship begins well before the "end' and builds in a carefully choreographed mosaic, moving forward and backward in time, to unravel their issues, which are poignant and relevant, as well as the story of their survival after the "end".I was so impressed that my thought half-way through the movie was that I must ring the radio science call-in show here in WA (Doctor Carl) to find out if science has yet to invent or is trying to design, whatever, a huge self-sustaining spaceship, which can harness solar winds and gas particles and mine asteroids, etc, that would help to guarantee mankind's survival.There are many really good apocalypse movies. This is easily one of the most novel and sophisticated so far. CGI? There's very, very little, but be reassured the photography is sufficiently superb, and the acting so first class, that after 20 minutes you'll be glad you chose this delight for sci-fi movie night.Inspiring.

Beware - this review is very spoiler-heavy!As every positive review of the film I've read has stated, Beyond is very much a relationship drama, merely using a sci-fi backdrop to explore things in an unusual way. It's a terrible case of a poorly advertised film, as it's obvious from many reviews on here that people were expecting something much more SF based - to the extent that I've seen several references to people wanting more alien action. This seems to miss the point of the film entirely - that the post- apocalyptic scenes are entirely in Cole's head, and are him effectively putting himself on trial for his own weaknesses. Using the 'it was all a dream' twist is very dangerous, as it's usually a very cheap way out of a dead end situation, but in Beyond I think it worked incredibly well. The structure of what are presented as 'flashback' scenes build up brilliantly to the film's climax which, combined with Michael's monologue, explain almost pretty much everything that happens during Cole's hallucination. It may need a couple of watches to piece it all together, but once it falls into place it becomes obvious that what could have been a terrible cliché 'twist' actually exists to allow Cole's character to assess his personality defects in a hugely imaginative way.The heart of the film itself is wonderful, with a low-key but realistic relationship played out beautifully by the two leads. By combining this with the hallucinatory plot, there's a really unique take on a potentially generic plot - it's just unfortunate that most people coming to the film will be expecting something entirely different. Much like Another Earth, I watched the film with an open mind and no real expectations - only knowing it was categorised as 'sci-fi' - and came out having enjoyed a really wonderful film, regardless of genre boundaries. Anyone similarly open will have a good chance of finding a hidden gem here.

This movie tries to bill itself as a sci-fi survivor story, but just can't quite keep the charade going. First and foremost this film is a ponderous relationship drama. In fact, I'd argue it's a melodrama. The main character is an aloof, disconnected slacker with no more attractive qualities than his swarthy, ill shaven, casually dressed actor can bring by default. His girlfriend Maya is a needling, immature, inconsistent, over-emotional fountain of simultaneous boredom and annoyance.There is nothing to like here. The progression is simultaneously flat and instantaneous, with no actual payoff. The entire premise of the movie is thrown out in its last seconds as an elaborate symbolic representation of the characters' relationship struggle.If you enjoy sniffing your own farts and think that it's particularly engaging to point out the symbolic nature of the static on the television screen over the character's left shoulder while they try to eat pasta from an upside-down fork, this is the film for you.If you want something that isn't trying to be an over-pretentious melodrama, look elsewhere.

While I was initially invested in Cole and Maya's budding relationship, I too quickly became tired and irritated by their constant bickering while waiting for the sci-fi element to kick in to full gear...which it never does. There are a few tense moments where you get a taste for what this movie could have been and then? The most unforgivable, cheap, lame plot device!!! It was all a dream/hallucination! There were NO ALIENS!!!! Absolute waste of two hours of my life if, you, like me were drawn into the film by the the synopsis' promise of a "struggle to survive in a world where the human population has been left decimated after an extra-terrestrial attack".