The Fourth Kind is a science fiction horror film by director Olatunde Osunsanmi, which was released on November 6th, 2009. This film is largely a re-engineering of footage belonging to Dr. Olatunde Osunsanmi. Abbey Tyler in 2000, when he was still working as a psychologist in Nome, Alaska. While most of the scenes are re-engineered, all of the original footage shot in 2000 will also be shown throughout the film, making the horror feel very real.
This film is indeed full of controversial things. Therefore, the message of actress Milla Jovovich, who plays the character of Dr. Abbey Tyler in the opening scene of the film, has actually become a clear sign for the audience, and well, if you still want to watch it until the end, it means you are already ready to take all the risks.
Oh yes, before going into the discussion of the film, I need to remind you that this post will contain spoilers. So, for those of you who haven't watched the movie, it's better to just scroll down to the "Score" section to see if this movie is worth it or not for you to watch.
The story of the film The Fourth Kind focuses entirely on Dr. Abbey Tyler, who is being pressured after her husband's death by something she can't remember. After further exploration through the science of hypnosis, Dr. Abbey Tyler saw that her husband had been stabbed by something, but she couldn't clearly see the culprit's face. Her memory seemed to have been forcibly erased. She knows that her husband was clearly murdered and she must find out who the killer is.
When he returned to work as a psychological doctor, Dr. Abbey found 3 patients with the same symptoms. They had trouble sleeping and claimed to see owls that seemed to be watching them every night. This kept happening, until finally one of the patients, Scott, started to notice something, but strangely he couldn't remember it clearly. Dr. Abbey finally uses hypnosis therapy to find out what really happened to Scott, but it actually uncovers a mysterious incident that is difficult for common sense to accept.
Honestly, after watching this film until the end, I felt very nervous, especially because some original footage was also shown throughout the film, which seemed to make the audience feel what was happening in Nowa at that time. Thanks to the original footage, the horror element really feels very real, especially in the scene where Scott holds his whole family hostage with a gun right in front of them. I don't understand anymore what the director's considerations were for showing the footage in this section, even when the shooting incident was shown. It's crazy, really, really crazy. At first, I thought that the original footage would only be shown during the interview scene, so it felt like a narrator telling the storyline. There was not the slightest expectation to see the original footage of people committing suicide as clearly as shown in this film. Yes, even though there are parts that are censored, it's still clearly shown.
The Fourth Kind seems to really want to try to explain the phenomena that occurred in a very real way so that the various pieces of evidence that existed in 2000 were all clearly displayed. This has indeed succeeded in making this film look realistic. It is very different when compared to other films, which usually only show the sentence "based on a true story" at the beginning of the film. However, in my opinion, some of the original footage that was shown should have been removed, for example during the Scott family hostage scene. I don't think the original footage should have been shown in that scene. It's really scary, I swear. The feel is different because we know that it's a real event that is shown, not re-created.
The film The Fourth Kind is also considered to be quite brave because it tells one case of alien abduction, which is certainly full of things that can be debated. Plus, with the existence of various original recordings and footage, which automatically becomes strong supporting evidence that something mysterious did happen at that time,
The thing that caught my attention the most lies in the Sumerian language, which in this film is shown as the language used by "aliens" to communicate. According to history, Sumerian is the oldest language used by humans long before Christ. Supposedly, by now the language has been abandoned and no one can use it anymore, but strangely it appears in one of Dr.'s recordings. This footage was shot at Abbey in 2000, and that footage is also shown in this film, complete with Dr. Abbey and some other strange sounds that will definitely make you feel very uncomfortable when you hear them. When translated, the meaning is also quite controversial, because the "aliens" think that they are God. They even said that the children they had taken captive would never return.
The good thing is, that the ending of this film frees the audience to choose to believe or not believe about the various events experienced by Dr. Abbey. Although the various recordings displayed are indeed original recordings from 2000, this can still be doubted, especially since the existence of Dr. Abbey is revealed at the end of the film. Given the possibility that Dr. Abbey suffered from mental disorders from the start, making this film has several theories related to its ending.
The first theory is that you can assume that all events that occur are the result of the imagination and hypnosis of Dr. Just Abbey. This is very likely to happen because Dr. Abbey is a psychologist who can make her patients do whatever she asks. So he could have had Scott shoot his entire family with hypnosis because of the trauma Dr. Abbey suffered after her husband died in the same way. The science of hypnosis can indeed be used to influence a person's actions; it can even be used to commit murder, as in the film Cure (1997), which I also discussed a few months ago. Seeing as how Dr. Abbey is a psychologist, it is very likely for him to do that. However, this theory cannot explain the Sumerian language that emerged or how the events of Ashley's disappearance have not yet been found.
The second theory is that you can believe that Dr. Abbey really did make contact with aliens. In this way, the events of Ashley's disappearance and the emergence of the Sumerian Language make more sense. However, the oddity is in the death of the husband of Dr. Abbey. At the beginning of the film, it is shown that Dr. Abbey is under hypnosis and tells us that her husband was stabbed by something she can't remember. But at the end of the film, in fact, the husband of Dr. Abbey apparently committed suicide by using a gun. This indirectly explains why all the words spoken while exposed to hypnosis cannot be justified. So even though all of Dr. Abbey's patients can speak Sumerian when hypnotized, it can't be directly attributed to aliens since it can be engineered, just as Dr. Abbey for the death of her husband at the beginning of the film.
Well, it's your decision whether you want to believe it or not. To be sure, The Fourth Kind has tried to explain that strange events did happen in Nowa, Alaska in the early 2000s. Whether it's because of aliens or because of hypnosis from Dr. Abbey, you decide for yourself.
SCORE
9/10
After watching the film, I think The Fourth Kind has a crazier level of horror than other horror films. I feel like I'm not comfortable watching the movie. I want to finish the film quickly, but my eyes are still craving to watch it. Anyway, The Fourth Kind is a movie recommendation that is very worthwhile for those of you who like the horror genre.However, this film may not be suitable for those of you who are easily provoked, considering the various controversial materials displayed can shake your beliefs. Anyway, just enjoy watching it as much as possible, as Milla Jovovich said at the beginning of the film that whether you want to believe it or not is up to you, don't worry about it.
It's also worth remembering that some of the scenes shown in this film are a bit gruesome and disturbing. So, for those of you who are emotionally unstable, it's better to just watch a fun movie, and avoid dark films like this instead of regretting it later.