Common Sense Media Review
By Jeffrey M. Anderson
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Excellent, unsettling sci-fi horror based on Lovecraft tale.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 16+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
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Color Out of Space
What's the Story?
In COLOR OUT OF SPACE, Nathan Gardner (Nicolas Cage) and his family -- wife Theresa (Joely Richardson), daughter Lavinia (Madeleine Arthur), elder son Benny (Brendan Meyer), and youngest son Jack (Julian Hilliard) -- have given up life in the city to work Nathan's father's farm raising alpacas. Hydrologist Ward Phillips (Elliot Knight) comes by to study the water in the area, just before a glowing meteor crashes into the Gardners' front yard. Everything quickly starts to go haywire. Not only does Ward find that the water has been tainted, but Jack gets sick; large, inedible fruits and vegetables grow; the animals begin to mutate; and everyone starts acting very oddly as odd colors radiate everywhere.
Is It Any Good?
A clever, potent adaptation of a story by H.P. Lovecraft, this sci-fi shocker with a little humor and effective visual FX manages to capture the source material's unique, unnamable enigma. Writer-director Richard Stanley (of the 1990 cult classic Hardware) and co-writer Scarlett Amaris bring Lovecraft's 1927 story into the present day -- and also discard the story's flashback structure -- but keep the original tale's moods and ideas intact. The evil is never explained or seen in Color Out of Space, except in the form of ethereal patterns of poisonous, seeping colors and in the shocking mutations of living things. It's constantly intriguing -- and definitely unsettling.
Cage's performance isn't quite as consistent here as it was in the terrific 2018 horror film Mandy -- when he gets unhinged here, it's inadvertently funny -- but things balance out before the final act. Cage also provides some intentional humor (as when he watches himself being interviewed on TV about possible aliens), and Tommy Chong is terrific as a freaky old hermit. Q'orianka Kilcher co-stars as the mayor of the Gardners' town; it seems as if there might once have been more to her character, as her appearances in the finished film don't amount to much. But otherwise, the characters in Color Out of Space are vivid and dimensional, and their warm humanity lies in direct contrast to the horrors in the woods.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about Color Out of Space's violence. How did it make you feel, given that the violent forces are acting almost randomly, with no malice? What's the impact of media violence on kids?
Is the movie scary? What makes it scary? (What is it about things that are unseen and unknown?) What's the appeal of horror movies?
How are alcohol and drugs depicted? Are they glamorized? Are there consequences for using? Why does that matter?
What's the family dynamic like here? What's the relationship between the siblings? Between the parents and the children? What are the similarities and differences between these and your own relationships?
Movie Details
- In theaters : January 24, 2020
- On DVD or streaming : February 25, 2020
- Cast : Nicolas Cage , Joely Richardson , Madeleine Arthur
- Director : Richard Stanley
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : RLJE Films
- Genre : Science Fiction
- Run time : 111 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : July 14, 2022
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