‘Save Yourselves!’ follows formula, but proves prescient
When co-writers/co-directors Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson premiered their feature debut “Save Yourselves!” at the Sundance Film Festival early this year, they could not have known just how eerily and specifically prescient their film about hipsters at the end of the world would be. While extraterrestrials haven’t shown up to kill us all (yet), the film does predict apocalyptic details that have all come to pass, like a sudden fixation on baking sourdough bread and a crippling addiction to doom scrolling.
In fact, it’s the scrolling that serves as the impetus for the action of “Save Yourselves!” as Su (Sunita Mani) and Jack (John Reynolds), a comfortable yet unsatisfied Brooklyn couple, peel themselves off the couch and away from their smartphones in an attempt to disconnect to reconnect. It’s a classic millennial lament that has only recently grown louder: the internet — can’t live with it, can’t live without it (pair this with “The Social Dilemma” on Netflix for the ultimate digital detox double feature).
Su and Jack are trying to save themselves, but initially, it’s not from the imminent threat of danger, but rather the slow creep of dread. Su, an achievement-oriented type, is burned out working for an abusive boss. Jack, an appealingly puppyish and hapless fella, yearns for more meaning and connection in a world of shallow hipster hypocrisy. They decide to head to a friend’s cabin in upstate New York and turn off their phones. But just as their search for authenticity is about to turn into a Reddit relationships post, a bunch of murderous pouffeball aliens descend on Earth and Jack and Su unexpectedly find the meaning and connection they seek in their own fight for survival.
“Save Yourselves!” follows a familiar narrative formula, in which two people who might be incompatible learn to be compatible under duress.
The alien conceit is a bit goofy and tortured, but like all good apocalypse movies, it’s not about what the big bad is, just that it happens and forces the characters into strange situations where they have to make challenging choices.
‘SAVE YOURSELVES!’ 3 stars out of 4. Running time: 1 hour, 33 minutes. Rated R for language.