By: Trevor Chartrand

The Becomers is a highly entertaining sci-fi/comedy that does body-swappin’ on a budget. Written and directed by Zach Clark (Little Sister), the film is a testament to the advantages of a well-told simple story.

The Becomers chronicles the misadventures of two alien lovers, interplanetary refugees forced to travel to Earth from their inhospitable planet. Much like the MCU’s Skrulls, these aliens have the ability to take the form of human beings to assimilate in their new world. As they move from body to body, they find themselves in escalating situations, accidentally becoming involved in a kidnapping scandal.

Set in a satirically post-COVID world, the aliens’ sense of isolation parallels the loneliness of the stay-at-home orders of the time. The film leans heavily on dark humour and fish-out-of-water comedy early on, as the aliens try to understand how to function in our world. Later, Clark’s movie takes a darker and more introspective turn when a political subplot ironically paints the aliens in a more relatable and sympathetic light than the human characters. As weird and strange as their race may be, perhaps we are weirder and stranger.

Due to the nature of the aliens ‘becoming’ other people, their characters are brought to life by multiple performers as they move from one form to another. The film refreshes itself each time, functioning as a series of short vignettes as they take on each new body.

Despite multiple actors playing the same character in different bodies, the performances remain consistent throughout; there’s never a reason to doubt the shapeshifters are all the same character – unlike say, the night and day performances of Zachary Levi and Asher Angel in 2019’s Shazam. The aliens have an awkward, cautious approach to everything they do, in every body they inhabit.

Much praise and credit is due to the prosthetics and make-up work on the film. The aliens have some unique features on their bodies, integrated effectively in a way that strengthens the narrative. The film also features strong editing choices, with a particularly memorable ‘married life’ montage that features the aliens trying out day-to-day living in suburbia.

Like any good sci-fi, The Becomers uses an extraterrestrial perspective to shed light on our society; perhaps even on humanity in general. The film is funny, memorable, and compelling, and hides its budget well. The strength of The Becomers is in its simplicity, however complex the subtext may be.

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Trevor Chartrand: @OhHaiTrebor