Official synopsis: Elsa (Megan Northam, in her debut feature starring role), along with her family, is struggling following the disappearance of her brother Franck, an astronaut who vanished during his first mission. While stargazing one night, Elsa is shocked to receive contact from Franck, but her joy is short-lived when she learns of the dark and troubling forces behind Franck’s reappearance, forcing her to confront the lengths she will go for the brother she once feared was gone forever.
Writer/director Jérémy Clapin’s Meanwhile on Earth (Pendant ce temps sur terre; France/Belgium, 2024) is a highly meditative riff on Invasion of the Body Snatchers-inspired science fiction cinema. At its core is budding comic artist Elsa (Megan Northam, giving an excellent performance in her debut lead role), the grieving teenage sister of Franck, an astronaut lost in space. She feels incomplete without him, and unexpectedly makes contact with him. She also makes contact with an alien being who promises to return Franck if Elsa carries out its wishes, which includes sacrificing people so that alien entities can take over their human forms.
Clapin addresses psychological, social, and political issues as Elsa does what she feels she needs to do to protect her family at the expense of the lives of strangers. Her choice of victims is one manner in which the social and political angles are presented, and the alien in contact with Elsa certainly mirrors leaders in positions of power as they insist on her aiding them, holding the freedom of her brother over her.
Clapin aims for the head and heartstrings with this alien invasion rather than presenting a special effects spectacular. Robrecht Heyvaert’s cinematography is absolutely captivating, with Clapin’s animated sequences adding extra poignancy to the proceedings.
Clapin balances his film nicely between the philosophical and being accessible to a wider audience. Meanwhile on Earth is thoughtful, slowly unfolding science fiction that will leave viewers contemplating its messages long after the ending credits roll.
Meanwhile on Earth opens theatrically on November 8, 2024.
