Save Yourselves! Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Save Yourselves! Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman November 11, 2020

Blowing Up Right Now follows a young Millennial couple riding out the end of the world together, and so too does Save Yourselves!, Directors Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson's tale of apocalyptic survival as a comedy of errors and told within the prism of technological withdrawal and societal detachment. The movie is metaphorical and fairly overt about it, right to the superficially ambiguous ending that is otherwise rich with subtext, reinforcing the concepts and contexts explored throughout. The movie is not particularly effective beyond its message, but it's rich in ideas and particularly how it presents them, overtly and covertly alike.

A couple of tech addicted contemporaries, Jack (John Paul Reynolds) and Su (Sunita Mani), are given the opportunity to disconnect from their lives, to allow their brain chemistry to "sort itself out” and take a retreat far away from the hustle and bustle they know and love. They switch off their phones and drive out to the country, arriving at a picturesque home surrounded by nature where they hope to pretend their phones, and the world they know, no longer exist. It’s to be a week of tech-free bliss. But the draw back to the screen is strong. Su finally relents in secret only to find garbled and confused voice messages waiting for her. The couple frequently hears gunshots in the distance and witnesses a number of “shooting stars” in the night sky. Eventually, they begin to piece together the truth that something is not right in the world around them. They give in, power on their phones, and quickly come to realize that New York City has been lost and that aliens are taking over the world. Their panic intensifies when it becomes clear that the aliens are amongst them, too. Suddenly, their relaxing, if not detoxing, idyllic getaway quickly morphs into a battle to survive, a battle these Millennial city folks are grossly ill equipped to fight, let alone win.

The movie is filled with irony and metaphor, and even when the performances don't work or the flow feels stilted or stymied, those subtexts help to maintain interest throughout. One of the most interesting contrasts is that Jack and Su escape their normal lives only to be thrust out of any semblance of normalcy, even beyond their wildest expectations for their retreat. They are no longer detoxing from technology but now instead fighting to understand the unknown -- secondhand accounts over the phone and a few first-hand close encounters being their only sources of information -- and literally fighting for their lives, though they are admittedly ill-equipped to do so. They're city people; they have little understanding of survival techniques, the proper way to use a firearm, or any general tips and tricks on making it through an alien invasion. Not that many people do, but they definitely find themselves behind the curve, and it is from that position that the film finds much of its humor.

Nevertheless the movie is at its best when it allows its themes to run wild. What's so much fun about the movie -- which is far better when looking beyond the superficial -- are the numerous avenues it opens for interpretation. For Instance, Jack and Su make a point to escape the "reality" of their online existence by escaping into the "real" world which for them is not really "real" at all. To them, the great outdoors is more like The Matrix, something that's artificial, detaching them from what makes them happy, what makes them, them. But when the alien invasion hits, they are forced to return to their brand of normalcy in order to try and get a leg up on the new realities, but they quickly come to realize that technology can't substitute for good old fashioned guile and know-how. They find themselves in a double bind, out of their element and also out of ideas (and rather quickly at that) on how to survive the aliens, which, by the way, are essentially tribbles on steroids and with a really long tongue. One can easily liken their invasion to the couple's decision to temporarily cut ties with the Internet; it's a disruptive force to Jack and Su's lives that ultimately threatens to break them away from reality and into a whole other world, whether they like it or not.

Save Yourselves! Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Save Yourselves! retreats onto Blu-ray with a highly proficient 1080p transfer sourced from the digitally native shoot. The picture is in many ways unremarkable, that word here used in the best possible context. It's extremely efficient in clarity, textural accuracy, and color reproduction. It achieves nothing beyond the higher-end ordinary but rather presents the content as well as can be reasonably expected. Close-ups reveal extremely fine facial and clothing features, both capturing nuances and subtleties with expressive definition. It brigs the idyllic world around the characters to life with refined and individually detailed leaves and grass, even at moderate distance (though even well beyond intimate shots there's a nice basic sense of separation and individual definition). Various car interiors and exteriors, the cabin's inside and out details, and of course the furry aliens offer tack sharpness throughout. Colors are pleasing to the eye, well balanced and favoring a neutral output, refusing to push to hot, too cool, or favoring any single color. Greenery leaps off the screen, the aliens' red tongues (for lack of a better term) are bright, and clothes offer satisfying tonal accuracy. Skin tones appear true to the actors' complexions and low light black levels only push slightly too light. Occasional noise does pop in at times, mostly in lower light, such as during a shot at the 17:48 mark featuring a dense forest exterior and again at night in the 59-minute mark. These are minor source-related issues and don't interfere with an otherwise rock-solid release from Universal.

Save Yourselves! Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Save Yourselves! features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Like the video, the presentation is very efficient and capable but doesn't necessarily go above and beyond the call of duty. Basic characteristics are in fine working order, with music playing with always proficient spacing and expert clarity. Surrounds offer pleasing definition to various atmospheric effects scattered throughout the film, whether light effects around the natural world Jack and Su are inhabiting or, later, some of the alien sounds where they quickly swoosh around and across the listening area with precision imaging. A few gunshots offer a solid sonic report and appropriate low end response. Dialogue is the primary sound element and it presents with good positioning, prioritization, and detail.

Save Yourselves! Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Save Yourselves! contains a few extras, including an audio commentary track. No DVD copy is included but Universal has bundled in a Movies Anywhere digital copy code. This release ships with a non-embossed slipcover.

• Deleted and Extended Scenes (1080p, 7:31 total runtime): Included are Great Hill; No Phones, No Laptops; Ribbit; Shave Ourselves Extended; Scoop of Ice Cream; and Grapes.
• Blooper Reel (1080p, 5:50): Humorous moments from the shoot.
• Audio Commentary: Director/Writer Huston Fischer and Director/Writer Eleanor Wilson explore the movie's various attributes, including score, cast and characters, technical construction, story, life on the set, and more. This is a fun, rather light and breezy track that fans will enjoy.

Save Yourselves! Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Save Yourselves! is thematically rich and opens several avenues of interpretation as it none-too-subtly comments on modern life and technology. The movie's superficialities are not particularly interesting, but they're necessary movers and shakers to set up the more interesting, meatier undercurrents. The lead actors are rather good at selling the idea of their inadequacies away from technology and in dealing with their furry disruptors. It's a fun movie, imperfect but certainly capable of entertaining and leaving the audience thinking a bit, too. Universal's Blu-ray delivers solid video and audio presentations which are supported by a few supplements, including an audio commentary track. Recommended.