‘Into the Sky’ Review: Charming Alien Abduction Comedy Has More Heart Than Hilarity
The Fantastic Fest 2026 title Into the Sky taps into the tangible horror of alien abduction, where life goes on without you after you’re gone. The comedy from first-time director Drew Mylrea and Evan Wolf Buxbaum has the concept and the heart, but leaves me stranded in a cornfield searching for humor. It charmed me, though.
MPA Rating: Not Yet Rated
Runtime: 1 Hour and 37 Minutes (97 minutes)
Language: English
Production Companies: Thunderbird Ventures, The Viste Corp., Ace of Farts Productions, Witchcraft Motion Picture Company
Distributor: N/A
Director: Drew Mylrea, Evan Wolf Buxbaum
Screenwriters: Drew Mylrea, Evan Wolf Buxbaum
Cast: Sam Richardson, Fiona Rene, Sofia Black-D'Elia, David Cross, Arturo Castro, Jon Rudnitsky, Annabel O'Hagan, Madeleine Cornman-Alexandera, Jon Bass
U.S Release Date: N/A
Bobby (Sam Richardson) awakens on a golf course butt naked and has no idea where anything is. He learns it’s been five months since he was abducted by aliens, and literally nobody has checked in on him. He returns to his hometown in search of more details, including his former co-worker Mikey (Arturo Castro). He can’t seem to find his wife Brittany (Fiona Rene) anywhere. He returns to his cabin and finds Nico (Sofia Black-D’Elia), a girl-failure alcoholic renting out his home. When her brother, groom-to-be Chance (Jon Rudnitsky), visits to chew her out about wedding preparations, Bobby saves her, pretending to be her boss. Nico proposes a deal: if he keeps playing her boss all the way through the wedding, she will contact Brittany.
Well, Bobby is abducted again, this time waking up in a maze alongside Jaden (David Cross), who is instantly overjoyed that he found a fellow abducted survivor. Now Bobby is stuck between fulfilling his deal with Nico to get his wife back and Jaden’s increasing paranoia to prove he ain’t crazy about the aliens.
Into the Sky is great in concept yet is abducted by weak comedy.
Into the Sky offers solid VFX and terrifying cues. One in particular involves Bobby being yanked out of his house, dragged across the floor, yelling for mercy. For a low-budget film, it pulls off a solid horror beat. Plus, the colorful cosmic art direction in the alien atmosphere is stunning. The filmmakers and their visual effects team push their limits in giving the sci-fi elements some decent gravitas.
Richardson is one of those comedic performers who makes me smile whenever he appears on screen. He could share chemistry with a brick wall if you let him. He and Black-D’Elia have solid comedic chemistry that gives the film a sweet 2010s-like charm. It’s great to see the Single Drunk Female actress be the reckless, snarky foil to Richardson’s regular nice-guy archetype, making for a fun pairing that carries the film.
Into the Sky has a solid concept that highlights its rom-com elements; the sci-fi aspect triggers a predictable love story about a nice guy more concerned about his marriage than his own disappearance. But goddamn it, I’d be remiss if I didn’t say I didn’t laugh once. Comedy is subjective, and I’m an avid comedy watcher (former comedian, too) who enjoys silly compilations of Smosh and Family Guy cutaways. It doesn’t take much to get me giggling. However, writers Drew Mylrea and Evan Wolf Buxbaum aim for straightforward silly jokes. The writing lacks a thorough backbone to make their humorous bits land. The comedy itself is abducted by the overlying quirkiness, leaving a drought in humor. It’s a shame because Richardson, Black-D’Elia, and Cross, whose buoyant charisma is the film’s comedic MVP, are immensely charming in their roles. The material they’re working with is weak, yet they make the film watchable. The flat comedic bits didn’t make me frustrated or angered in the way the Taron Egerton comedy Everybody Wants to Fuck Me did. I half-watched that film at TIFF, and it was so annoyingly unfunny that I walked out. Into the Sky is one of those “Well, that’s a shame,” films, but it was charming thanks to the cast and the heart at its core.
Though it doesn’t beam up its comedic elements to the strength of its concept, Into the Sky slightly lifts off due to its endearing quirkiness and a charming trio in Sam Richardson, Sofia Black-D’Elia, and David Cross.
