Jay Rohr
Roswell Delirium offers a curious conundrum. On paper, any synopsis of the plot sounds like an intriguing mystery involving alternate history, aliens, and allegorical dark reflections of a contemporary United States. The execution, however, leaves a lot to be desired. As such, it begs the question of how hard one ought to hammer down on a solid idea that could have been better.
The film opens with Russia attacking the United States in 1986. Nuclear strikes are likely linked to tensions over the Able Archer 83 incident as well as Korean Flight 007. Pockets of the population in remote areas are living in the aftermath the best they can. Among them is a young lady barely into her teens named Mayday Malone (Kylee Levien). One evening, fiddling with radio equipment, she intercepts what may be an alien broadcast. Investigating the transmission leads her to the urban legend location Spacerock. Something there poisons her body, and her mother must make the choice between watching her die or finding a way to entrust her to aliens in hopes of a miracle cure.
Explaining what happens risks spoiling some plot twists. Roswell Delirium wants to be a mysterious thriller propelled by curiosity over what’s transpiring. Aliens and urban legends of the postapocalyptic world are just part of the narrative. There’s also a large portion of the film involving an adult Mayday dealing with her extraterrestrial abduction by meeting with a psychologist played by Anthony Michael Hall (Reacher).
There’s a lot going on in Roswell Delirium. The film endeavors to be about trauma, parenting, urban legends, abuse, aliens, delusions, society, and growing up. Some of its strongest segments are Mayday trying to carry on life as normally as possible in the wake of a massive cataclysm. In many ways, this coming-of-age aspect allows for a Covid allegory. People in this alternate history are apparently terrified of the cough, a mysterious ailment plaguing the country. The pandemic symbolism peppered throughout can be screamingly obvious. What it lacks in subtlety, the film makes up for in earnest commentary enhanced by excellent cinematic choices.
Writer-director Richard Bakewell manages to compose several visually compelling moments. This is likely owed to a long career as a cinematographer. During daylight scenes there’s a sandy harshness to the isolated desert town. Nighttime settings have an ethereal quality aiming at a dreamlike otherness. That ephemeral element of the unusual often comes across in the visual composition, and well scripted actions sometimes emphasize the troubling nature of the reality these characters inhabit.
At risk of spoilers, there’s a great scene where a child is carried kicking and screaming out of a classroom by someone in a hazmat suit. It’s presumed he has the dreaded cough, so the teacher tells the other students to shut their eyes. As they ignore the incident, the remaining children stay sharply in view as the removed kid goes out of focus, disappearing out the door in a blur. If Roswell Delirium had more moments as cinematically crafted as this, it might have intrigued one to ignore the weaker portions.
Dialogue is noticeably clunky. It has all the grace of a baby giraffe’s first steps. Some characters, such as Anthony Michael Hall’s role as Jerry Baskin or Dee Wallace (The Hills have Eyes) as Betty, are simply meant to monologue exposition dumps.
Meanwhile, the film is so determined to remind viewers it’s set in the late 1980s that everyone, especially the children, constantly spout pop culture references. As someone who grew up in that era, occasional anachronisms struck me as odd until the finale. Perhaps this is nitpicking, but it still seemed strange to presume that in the aftermath of a nuclear attack U.S. pop culture would carry on historically identical to a reality without such a world altering calamity. That may be unfair criticism, although I suspect I’m not the only one who would have such qualms. It really interferes with the suspension of disbelief given references to shows that are the direct result of Gen X sarcasm about the nature of the 1980s.
There’s also a purpose behind certain exchanges that doesn’t do Roswell Delirium any justice. For example, Mayday initially takes the abuse of mean girls at her school with quiet resolve. Later, unmotivated by anything narrative, she’s able to sarcastically clap back with sharp barbs of her own. Too often, characters rarely evolve through any clear cause and effect. They simply become what would predictably be the next step. While there’s an argument that all of this is because of how the film ends, the conclusion is frustrating in its own way.
More than anything, though, Roswell Delirium is hampered by acting that could be better. I’m hesitant to hammer down on the cast since most of them are children. These could very well be the future superstars of the silver screen, if they work hard to improve themselves. Right now, the film is an eye-rolling blend of bad dialogue worsened by low quality delivery.
Roswell Delirium is a great concept crippled by a frustratingly poor execution. Granted, it is a visually high-quality piece of cinema. Writer-director Richard Bakewell does an excellent job behind the camera. He just needed to let someone else polish his dialogue.
This alternate-history tale of tragedy and alienation reveals how the past is a personal portrait. As such, facts can be plain yet oddly open to interpretation. It’s a complicated concept that would be more intriguing in a better made movie. Believable acting may have elevated the bad dialogue, but the film still suffers from an irritating ending. Works like this likely inspired the clichéd expression A for effort. If you miss this one you won’t be missing much.
