INTO THE SKY

We first meet Bobby butt-naked, covered in blue goo, lying on a golf course in North Carolina, hundreds of miles away from his hometown in upstate New York. For the past year, Bobby's life has been shattered by repeated abductions at the hands of a mysterious force in the sky. After making his way back home, with his marriage now in shambles, he meets Nico. Nico is renting his former house while planning her brother's wedding, with the hope that it will prove to her family that she isn't a burnout.

Unaware of the external forces disrupting Bobby's existence, Nico becomes entangled in his life as the two strike a deal to help solve each other's problems: Bobby will help plan the wedding, and Nico will help Bobby reconnect with his estranged wife. The arrival of Jaden, another abductee who has suffered the same bizarre phenomenon as Bobby for the past five years, only raises the stakes and adds to Bobby's problems.

Beginning as an intriguing abduction mystery centered on Bobby's desperate attempts to understand what is happening to him, INTO THE SKY gradually reveals itself to be something more far out. Elevated by a solid ensemble including Sam Richardson, Sofia Black-D'Elia, and David Cross, the film refuses to stay grounded in a single genre. Combining a heartfelt romance, cosmic mystery, and light comedy, directors Drew Mylrea and Evan Wolf Buxbaum craft a genre mash-up that will lift its audience up into unexpected places. (RAFAEL RODRIGUEZ)