Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
From the producers of Paranormal Activity, Insidious, and Sinister comes Dark Skies: a supernatural thriller that follows a young family living in the suburbs. As husband and wife Daniel and Lacey Barret witness an escalating series of disturbing events involving their family, their safe and peaceful home quickly unravels. When it becomes clear that the Barret family is being targeted by an unimaginably terrifying and deadly force, Daniel and Lacey take matters in their own hands to solve the mystery of what is after their family.
Dark Skies follows a well-worn suburban horror template — mysterious escalating events, disbelieving parents, and a slow-burn alien threat — that closely mirrors its Paranormal Activity/Insidious lineage. The plot is predictable and borrows heavily from alien abduction and haunted-house conventions without adding meaningful new layers. The acting, particularly Keri Russell and Josh Hamilton, elevates what could have been a routine outing, bringing genuine emotional weight to the family dynamic. Cinematography is competent and makes good use of suburban mundanity as an eerie backdrop, but doesn't distinguish itself. Novelty is low — it grafts alien abduction onto a found-footage-adjacent suburban horror framework that feels assembled from familiar parts. The ending, while committing to a dark resolution, telegraphs itself early and fails to deliver a genuinely surprising or resonant payoff.