New Movie Alert! Jules

SALM TEAM September 12, 2023 2 minutes read

Jules

2023

Comedy / Drama / Sci-Fi.

Plot summary

A flying saucer lands in the backyard of an elderly suburbanite with memory problems, who forms a bond with the scared alien inside.

Movie Reviews

10 / 10

A delightful genre-blend

My expectations were on the floor for this, as it’s a tiny indie film that has had zero marketing force behind it. I think this was a gigantic mistake, and I implore anyone with a beating heart to go see this film. It really is one of the best movies of the entire year.

Low-budget sci-fi is hard to come by, but Jules makes me yearn for more of it. It has one of the most riotously funny and genuinely heartfelt screenplays of the year and it’s brought to life by a knockout veteran cast that has impeccable comedic timing and deft dramatic chops as well.

Blending comedy, drama, and sci-fi was already a tall order, but Gavin Stickler’s script also weaves together universal themes like loneliness, mortality, communication, and the contagiousness of kindness and contemplates them with sincerity, wit, and nuanced intelligence.

The low budget is very much apparent, with basic camerawork and a couple of cheap-looking VFX shots. But I can easily forgive this as I was stunned by how much was achieved with actual makeup, sets, and props. A great deal of love and care was put into this little project, and it shows.

This is the kind of movie that inspires me. You don’t need anything flashy to make a film that moves you. I laughed. I cried. And when the credits rolled I yearned to be a better person. The power of cinema shines through even in the smallest projects.