Keri Russell doesn’t often do genre films, and while I like the subject matter of Dark Skies, I wish she had chosen a slightly stronger film to be a part of. The last third of the film is just terrible and isn’t executed very well.

And why are the Greys, which have been portrayed as slightly smaller, and almost robotic in their movements, shown as tall, thin beings with hunched shoulders? For a film that wants to portray the horrors of alien abduction, and its impact on the family, you would think the film would have followed documented cases and reports a little closer.

The Barrett family is having a tough go of it lately, Lacy (Russell) is a realtor trying to keep the family going, while her architect husband, Daniel (Josh Hamilton) tries to find new employment. Tensions are a little high on the marital front, but they try to be good parents to their two sons, Jesse (Dakota Goyo) and Bobby (Jake Brennan).

But when some strange events begin to happen around the house, which serves as nice nods to Spielberg’s UFO classic, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, as well as Poltergeist, the family begins to suspect that something weird is going on. But none of them are prepared for the truth of the situation as Bobby comments on strange interactions with what he calls the Sandman.

Increasingly frightening events that seem to be focused on the entire family lead Lacy down a rabbit hole that she’s not ready for, nor is she ready for her and Daniel’s encounter with Edwin Pollard (J.K. Simmons), a self-proclaimed expert on the subject of alien abduction.

Pollard’s information seems to suggest that the entire family is being subjected to abduction, but in the end, the first one abducted is the true focus of the aliens, and there is nothing anyone can do to stop the aliens. This fact is driven home by the discovery Lacy makes in Pollard’s apartment of a wall full of missing children – something that has never been shown to be connected to the phenomena.

It’s mainly so the film can have a creepy and frightening climax which really doesn’t work within the context of the reports of abduction.

It’s too bad because this film could have really been something. Like I said, I love the subject matter, it just could have been tweaked to deliver something truly frightening and thought-provoking without cheating on trying to find a quick easy way to wrap up the narrative.

Russell is wonderful, as always, and Simmons is fantastic in everything he does, I just wish the script had been a stronger effort and stayed a little closer to the reports surrounding the phenomena. Oh well.