In a galaxy far, far away the planet Zots is in great danger. Amorous citizens of Zot are emanating intense beams of love, which rise through the atmosphere, causing the ozone layer to melt. These “big feelings” are threatening to destroy the planet, and something must be done – quickly!
An emergency government program is created to send especially emotional Zotsians to the planet Earth, a nasty little planet where hearts are broken by cold-hearted and selfish daters on a regular basis. The goal of the program is to make participants so dead inside that they are no longer able to love anymore, thereby rendering them safe for the environment.
Three Zotsian women are served on the lady loving ladies of Earth via a spaceship that literally looks like a cafeteria takeout box, but most of the Earthlings don’t bite. This could be that the Zotsians were sent to the most ruthless dating pool on Earth, the island of Manhattan, known for lesbians so jaded that no one sticks around long enough to break anyone’s heart. Mostly, though, the Zotsians are just plain weird, even to New Yorkers who have seen everything.
As a result, two of the participants, Zylar (Jackie Monahan) and Barr (Cynthia Kaplan) turn to each other, concluding that like-minded outsiders such as themselves have more in common with each other than anyone on Earth. Love conquers all, even super secret missions to save the planet.
Meanwhile, Zoinx (Susan Ziegler) stumbles into good-hearted but socially awkward and frumpy Earthling Jane (Lisa Haas) at her workplace, a mom and pop stationery shop frequented by wackos, such as a geriatric curmudgeon who is obsessed with the copy machine. Zoinx inartfully woos Jane with a blank card purchased at the store, but over time the two grow closer and eventually fall in love, realizing that although they are from different planets with different customs, they share a bond that transcends culture and species.
The film is shot in black and white and is reminiscent of sci-fi B movies of the 1950s, and the dialogue is sharp and both campy and self-aware with a screwball and geeky sense of humor. One example of this is the back and forth in the bromance between the two government agents assigned to track alien activity – the two quibble about minutia like an old married couple.
Space Alien is a great date movie for anyone who has any geek sensibilities and a quirky sense of humor. Most importantly, though, the central message of the film is sweet and will fill even the most jaded New Yorker with optimism – even the most hopeless beings in the most hopeless circumstances can find love, and love, while scary enough to be suspected as the agent of frying an entire planet into oblivion, is actually something worth seeking, even if you have to go to outer space to find it.
Check out the trailer for the film below:
Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same plays this Saturday and Monday at MoMA. For more information, visit the official website for the film.
