Dark Skies: Impossible to put a happy face on this disaster

Lacy (Keri Russell) and Daniel (Josh Hamilton) are an already stressed wife and husband trying to deal with some strange activity affecting their two children, Jesse (Dakota Goyo) and Sam (Kadan Rockett).  With an emphasis on footage from video surveillance videos, director Scott Stewart (Legion, Priest) tries to pull a few tricks from Paranormal Activity, but a slow start, predictable build and a ridiculous ending ultimately leaves the watcher unsatisfied.

As Dark Skies begins, the couple discovers that someone (or something) has been breaking into their house and wreaking some seemingly innocuous havoc. One night, Lacy wakes up to find their refrigerator has been raided by a vegetarian being. Another night, she discovers items from the cupboard have been stacked into some amazing sculpture. Later, all the family photos disappear.

While unusual, these activities aren’t particularly threatening and it’s unclear if the unknown is something to fear or appreciate. That’s when the family’s luck and the film’s plot both take a turn for the worse. Flocks of birds commit harry carry on the picturesque family home. Sam begins sleepwalking and talking to someone he refers to as the “Sandman.” Lacy loses time, her mind and her job. Mysterious bruises and marks appear on the sons’ bodies. And Daniel develops one hell of a bloody nose.

Finally, when things hit rock bottom, Lacy decides to Google her situation and eventually determines it’s driven by extraterrestrials. She tracks down a local alien aficionado (J.K. Simmons, channeling an aging, obsessive Hunter S. Thompson) who then confirms her suspicions and tells the couple they need to fight back if they’re to have any chance of keeping their children safe from abduction. In the most terribly-conceived protection plan ever they board up the windows with plywood and begin buying up high-powered ammunition. The film jumps the shark with a confusing sequence of events. Its spectacular ending, as exaggerated as it is unclear, is not even worth trying to decipher or justify.