Encounter

A seriously oddball little movie, Encounter follows Riz Ahmed’s Malik Khan as he becomes convinced that microscopic aliens have invaded earth and are now inhabiting the bodies of half the population – with the narrative detailing Malik’s efforts at shuttling his two young sons to safety. Filmmaker Michael Pearce, armed with a script written with Joe Barton, delivers a mostly watchable yet wildly erratic thriller that benefits from Ahmed’s predictably top-notch performance, as the actor turns in predominantly commanding work that goes a long way towards smoothing over the myriad of bumps in the far-from-streamlined narrative (and it doesn’t hurt, either, that the supporting cast boasts the predictably engaging efforts of folks like Octavia Spencer and Rory Cochrane). It’s equally apparent, however, that Encounter eventually progresses into an exceedingly hit-and-miss midsection that contains little in the way of forward momentum, and although the underlying mystery of whether or not Malik is crazy provides some continuing interest, the picture’s sluggish atmosphere, which is perpetuated by a curious lack of overtly engrossing sequences, paves the way for a second half that’s rarely, if ever, as spellbinding as Pearce has obviously intended. By the time the amped-up yet somewhat abrupt finale rolls around, Encounter has unquestionably cemented its place as a just-decent-enough endeavor that generally does feel as though it should be much, much better.

**1/2 out of ****