UNIDENTIFIED OBJECTS: It Came Out Of Nowhere

Every once in a while a film will come along that surprises me. It will come out of nowhere, having never heard of it at all, having not watched the first trailer, nothing. Just a completely unlabeled present. Sometimes that can lead to a total disaster and then sometimes, just sometimes, it can lead to something amazing. In director Juan Felipe Zuleta’s Unidentified Objects, we very much got the “sometimes” version of events. The movie was fantastic.

The film takes the road trip genre and mixes it up a bit, having our two main players be complete strangers. Then, it cranks it up another notch by having them be as different as two people can possibly be. We have our young lady, Winona (played by Sarah Hay), a twenty-something free spirit with delusions (maybe) of being abducted by aliens. She doesn’t have a lot of luck in life but she was visited and told to be at a specific location at a specific time on a specific day, and she aims to be there, no matter what.

Winona doesn’t have a ride, no mode of transportation, and that leads us to our other main, Peter (played brilliantly by Matthew Jeffers). Peter happens to be a little person who is gay and has health issues, with medical bills piling up to the ceiling. He isn’t quite sure what he’s going to do about it and with everything against him he has closed himself off from the rest of the world. Peter doesn’t like people because he thinks that people don’t like him. When he is offered the money from Winona for the use of his vehicle he sees a chance to earn a little cash and have a bit of an adventure himself, having unfinished business in the general area that she is traveling.

We’re just two lost souls

That’s essentially how the movie begins and sets our story in motion. Two strangers agree to take a trip together (all while sneaking into Canada) so Peter can fulfill a bucket list item and Winona can be abducted by aliens. It doesn’t always go smoothly of course, they are still getting to know each other, and they both definitely have completely opposite outlooks on life and people in general. It’s like the odd couple with the journey being the point, not necessarily the destination.

Much like any good road movie, there are many stops along they way and adventures to be had, this film is no exception. Every little event that takes place, like the car breaking down and needing boosted or a night in a bar across from their motel, brings them closer together. Slowly they begin to understand a little bit about what life is like for the other. Of course, they run into many colorful and odd characters along the way to populate their trip but for the most part, it’s about two people learning to cohabitate and maybe learn something about the human condition that they didn’t know before.

Everything in this film came from a place of love. It’s apparent from the opening scene with the way the dialogue is handled, expertly written by Leland Frankel. The flow and pace are somehow exactly how someone would speak to another person but at the same time, it almost comes off as a bit of poetry. From Zuleta’s direction, we also get some very interesting shots, some unusual (in a good way) angles, and some, from a distance, tracking shots that almost remind me of an old western. It was beautiful to look at.

Swimming in a fish bowl

Eventually, Winona and Peter do become friends through some hard but also fun times, the music in certain scenes was enough to bring a tear to your eye even without the movie going around it. I’m a sucker for appropriate music and solid song choices, this isn’t a mystery. It’s one of the first things I always look for and lately, movies have been delivering some really good soundtracks, this one was no exception.

As far as the story goes, there wasn’t a missed beat. I’ve been trying for years to define “those movies” and I think that after watching Unidentified Objects I might be closer to doing so. The entire vibe is basically just indie filmmaking but to a little bit of a higher degree. Great writing that reaches a little beyond what’s popular with directing that elevates every bit of the material. It wouldn’t be a “those movies” without the actors who have to bring all of it to life and both leads in this film had me from the beginning, I could see myself in both people. Winona’s unbridled optimism and Peter’s contempt for the rest of humanity. It was as if I’d been cut in half and placed on screen.

Conclusion

Unidentified Objects was a love letter to road films but it was also a deep dive into how our differences really don’t need to drive us apart. We are all different and that’s what makes us special. The way Peter and Winona found common ground and how each learned what made the other tick (sure with some speedbumps) showed that it doesn’t have to be that hard, that sometimes we just have to meet another person in the middle. Everyone is interesting, if we take the time to find out how.

If you like movies that put polar opposites together for long periods of time while one or both of them discover something they didn’t even know about themselves then this is definitely for you. Also if you just like movies where there is the potential for aliens, well again, it’s for you. This movie really does have a little bit of everything for everyone but at its core, it is a solid and beautifully told tale about love and loss and friendship. You shouldn’t wait around to see it, you should seek it out. On my indie soapbox again, it deserves to be seen by as many people as possible, bringing with them as many friends as they have.

Like I said at the beginning, movies coming out of nowhere can sometimes lead to headaches but they can also lead us to questions. Questions to which the answers are often times, beautiful.

Watch Unidentified Objects