Alien Invasion: S.U.M.1 (2017)

An aggressive race of aliens took over Planet Earth and humanity's at its end, living in giant bunkers below ground. Young Military rookie S.U.M.1 (Iwan Rheon) is sent to the surface to save a group of unprotected survivors.

Director:

Christian Pasquariello

Writers:

Christian Pasquariello, Gabrielle Pfeiffer (dialogue polishing)

Stars:

Iwan Rheon, André Hennicke, Rainer Werner

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Iwan Rheon	...	S.U.M.1
André Hennicke	...	Mac (as André M. Hennicke)
Rainer Werner	...	V.A.X.7
Zoe Grisedale	...	Straggler Woman (as Zoë Grisedale)
Niels-Bruno Schmidt	...	Straggler Man
Norman Reedus	...	K.E.R.4 (voice)
Tim Williams	...	Base (voice)
Lesley Suzanne Dean	...	M.A.T.E. (voice)
Nick Baker-Monteys	...	Driver (voice)
Christian Pasquariello	...	V.A.X.7 (voice)
Guy Hoyer	...	Hänschen Klein (voice)

Storyline

An aggressive race of aliens took over Planet Earth and humanity's at its end, living in giant bunkers below ground. Young Military rookie S.U.M.1 (Iwan Rheon) is sent to the surface to save a group of unprotected survivors.

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Plot Keywords:

future war | alien invasion | male vomiting | male rear nudity | rat | 

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Taglines:

Fear is a state of mind.

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-MA

Did You Know?

Trivia

Welsh actor Iwan Rheon [E-wan Rheen)] , best known for playing Ramsay Bolton in GoT and Maximus in the HIGHLY underrated TV show Marvel's Inhumans, carries the film himself (especially in the slow moving first act) , and it's as much of a character study as a tense sci-fi film. Worth watching if you are into a slow-burn drama with poor digital effects.

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Goofs

At the start of the movie, when they're counting down days by showing S.U.M.1 smoking his rationed, numbered, cigarettes, he smokes first #100, then #98, than #99.

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Soundtracks

Invasion
Written by Garry Judd

User Reviews

Less than aggressive aliens

My main reasons for seeing 'Alien Invasion: S.U.M.1' were because there are some interesting alien invasion films out there and for Iwan Rheon. Am a big fan of 'Game of Thrones', and, despite not mentioning him a lot when every episode of the show has so many standout moments, great elements and performances, Rheon is very good in it indeed.

'Alien Invasion: S.U.M. 1' unfortunately didn't really deliver. It is far from terrible and has some good things. There are also far worse films, especially fellow films made on a low budget and as an overall whole. Don't even think it is the worst alien invasion film, or one of the worst. It is just one of those films where potential, while not large, was decent, as it was not a bad idea at all even if unoriginal. The execution just didn't work and that is genuinely saddening to say.

Lets start with what 'Alien Invasion: S.U.M.1' does right. Rheon is good and the best thing about it. In fact the acting on the most part is quite competent. Another particularly good asset was the ending, a rare part of the film that stopped the viewer from being completely bored and was actually unexpected and pleasantly surprising. It engaged me while also having me sad that it took so long to get there.

The low budget does show sure. Editing is less than crisp at times, especially in the action-oriented scenes, and the drabness can be taken too far. It is decently shot though and looks pretty atmospheric.

Unfortunately, what 'Alien Invasion: S.U.M.1' does wrong eclipses the good things. The conflict is far from aggressive and has no involvement or menace, it even doesn't look particularly good. The monotony and dullness of the main character's everyday routine is taken too far agreed in the story execution, which is essentially an over-stretched short film with a lot of padding, too much of it unnecessary, and scenes that drag badly with no tension or suspense so to speak. Things do get silly and too much is underdeveloped or left in the air in an incomplete way.

Despite that the acting is not so bad, the characters fail to engage which makes it difficult to like them let alone empathise or relate. The dialogue, which is far too exposition-heavy, is a lot of gibberish rambling and doesn't flow very well, while the more action-oriented scenes are clumsily choreographed and the anti-thesis of thrilling or exciting.

Overall, has its moments (Rheon and the ending coming off best) but very dull on the most part. 4/10 Bethany Cox

Details

Country:

Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 December 2017 (USA)

Also Known As:

Alien Invasion: S.U.M.1

Filming Locations:

Berlin, Germany

Box Office

Budget:

$1,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Syrreal Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1