Dark Skies Is 1 of Sci-Fi’s Biggest Missed Opportunities 12 Years Later

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In the early 2010s, director Scott Stewart made two action movies with Paul Bettany that deliberately embraced a gritty, over-the-top style. In Legion, Bettany played the archangel Michael – a muscular, gun-wielding angel sent to protect a baby who’s meant to save humanity, from a God who’s decided to destroy everyone. Then, in Priest, he portrayed a warrior trained by a religious organization to fight vampires who have been battling humans for centuries. Both films were geared towards fans of franchises like Underworld and Resident Evil, and they performed reasonably well in theaters.

After starting his career as a visual effects artist on films like Night at the Museum and Iron Man, Stewart surprised audiences with his third movie. Instead of focusing on big effects and action, he took a different approach. While he might have been aiming for spectacular visuals and intense action, the film wasn’t a success. It’s now considered a major disappointment in recent science fiction cinema.

Dark Skies Cleverly Presents Itself as a Haunted House Movie

Someone who only saw the creepy poster for Dark Skies might initially believe they were watching a traditional haunted house story. The film starts by building suspense as Keri Russell and Josh Hamilton’s characters, Lacy and Daniel, become more and more frightened by strange events happening in their seemingly peaceful home.

It started with strange occurrences: they woke up one morning to find their kitchen furniture oddly rearranged, reminiscent of a scene from the movie Poltergeist. Then, their home security system malfunctioned, going off with alerts that all doors and windows had been triggered simultaneously—a setup eerily similar to something from Insidious. Shortly after, a bizarre event occurred: hundreds of birds crashed into their house, a scene that would later be replicated almost exactly.

It all seems pretty creepy so far, doesn’t it? Based on typical haunted house stories, Lacy and Daniel should probably call a priest after seeing so many birds suddenly die. But Dark Skies quickly shows us that the evil affecting the family isn’t a simple haunting – it’s something far stranger. When their young son, Sammy, starts sleepwalking outside without any memory of it, the family’s fear really starts to grow.

When Daniel and his son Jesse began experiencing frightening episodes of being unresponsive, with no recollection afterward, and strange geometric patterns appeared on their skin, Lacy started considering unconventional explanations. An online search led her to theories about UFOs being responsible for their experiences. Most disturbingly, these sources suggested the events were escalating toward something even worse.

J.K. Simmons Steals the Show as a UFO Expert

When Lacy realizes she’s facing a threat from secretive aliens entering her home at night, she seeks help from an expert. This is a common story element – there’s usually a somewhat odd professor or psychic who understands what’s happening, even if their beliefs have cost them their reputation. However, in Dark Skies, the expert is played by the highly respected J.K. Simmons, which makes his explanations much more believable. He specializes in ‘the Greys’ – the tall, thin aliens with large heads and black eyes, famously involved in the abduction of Fox Mulder’s sister.

Jeremy Simmons excels at bringing a fresh perspective to familiar stories, and his portrayal of Edwin Pollard is captivatingly complex. He embodies a quiet sadness mixed with a subtle threat, leaving the audience wondering what Pollard is really up to. While Pollard likely knows his search for the missing people—documented in the newspaper clippings covering his office—is hopeless, Simmons’ performance keeps you on the edge of your seat.

The movie’s tension really ramps up when Pollard warns Lacy that the aliens have probably targeted one of her family members for abduction – usually the one they’ve shown the most interest in. Because Lacy previously saw a shadowy figure near her youngest son, Sammy, she fears he’s the target. The family prepares for the Fourth of July weekend, getting a guard dog and a shotgun, bracing for what’s to come. The climax, expertly directed by Stewart, sees the tall, shadowy aliens finally break into the house. It’s incredibly suspenseful and proves Stewart’s point: a science fiction story can be just as scary as any horror film, as long as it’s well-made.

Dark Skies’ Spine-Chilling Twist Ending Should Have Led to a Sequel

The movie Dark Skies ends with a shocking twist that leaves viewers with a very grim feeling. During the attack, Lacy and Daniel are so focused on saving their son, Sammy, that they don’t notice what’s been obvious all along: the aliens aren’t after Sammy. Instead, they abduct Jesse, and his parents can only watch helplessly. Afterwards, Lacy and Daniel become suspects in their own son’s disappearance and are forced to move to escape the constant judgment of their neighbors.

To add to the emotional impact, Stewart reveals Lacy discovering an old drawing Jesse made as a child. The drawing depicts the Greys surrounding a young boy, and Lacy suddenly understands that boy was actually her eldest son all along.

With Dark Skies, Stewart created a film that felt much more personal than his previous work on Legion and Priest. The story was inspired by the many disturbing cases of missing persons he’d encountered, particularly those involving children and accusations against their parents. This led him to consider the agonizing position of a parent who believes something extraordinary happened to their child, but knows no one would believe their explanation. Stewart found this a deeply unsettling idea, and intentionally chose to leave the audience pondering it, rather than providing a simple resolution.

Despite a modest budget that made it profitable, the film Dark Skies wasn’t a critical or commercial success, earning less than $30 million and being labeled unoriginal. While it does borrow familiar elements from haunted house movies, some argue this was intentional, designed to mislead viewers. Ultimately, the negative reviews likely ended any hopes for a follow-up, despite a final scene suggesting one – a disembodied voice from Jesse heard on his brother’s walkie-talkie.

I’ve been a fan of Dark Skies for years, and it’s amazing how many others still love it too – we’re always chatting about it online, on Reddit and social media. It’s a shame a sequel never happened, because there was so much potential to continue the Barrett family’s story. The movie even hints at that, with a character saying, “Sometimes they come back,” which really makes you wonder what could have been!

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2025-11-24 01:09