On the way to a weekend getaway in the country, Kate (Joelle Rae) sees an UAP, an Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon, formerly known as a UFO, an unidentified flying object. Her boyfriend, Dale (Emrhys Cooper), brings it up at the dinner table, and everyone has a laugh leaving Kate feeling uncomfortable, but no one is laughing after Shelly (Ayvianna Snow, who also produces) returns from a vape break outside, says weird things about light and brandishes a knife. When violence breaks out, who should you rely on to interpret what is happening and save you? “The Nice Ones” (2026) is more than the average alien invasion movie. Is it also about the Rapture and growing Christianist fascism? Finally, a movie sticks the landing when writer and director Peter Stylianou makes the idea of God and His followers into the villain without explicit blasphemy. Ten out of ten. No notes! Chef’s kiss. This is how we do it! (Coming from a Christ follower who would be thrilled to be raptured but also gets it because *gestures around broadly at the world*.)
“The Nice Ones” bravely asks the question, “Which is worse: a weekend away with friends or the alien apocalypse with the aliens trying to kill you,” and arguably the latter may be less painful. Without giving away any spoilers, Kate and Dale seem to truly be in love, and Dale seems to be a supportive boyfriend reassuring her that his friends are hers, but when she erects one boundary, he weaponizes her insecurity and leverages his friends against her when he brings up that topic. See, Kate was on psych meds, so it is easy for everyone to dismiss her, and Dale uses it to his advantage to keep her in line. The best part of a possible invasion is that it may force her to break up with him, which, based on Kate’s actions, seems unlikely unless he lets the light in. If you watch the movie and have no idea why Dale is such a horrible person, that is thanks to Cooper’s realistic, understated performance as he shows that Dale projects his armchair diagnosis on Kate and externalizes the negative parts of himself on to her. On the other hand, get into therapy immediately because how can you not get annoyed at Dale who missed every clear indicator that Kate was right. Once you find out his profession, you will hate him and his friends more because he is the weird one in the relationship! Rae makes it look easy to play someone with mental health issues and be the most relatable person in the group thus making her the most credible and easy to root for. People playing perfect characters are less convincing.
Among Dale’s friend, Kate and Shelly are the only ones who may be genuinely happy to see each other, but Shelly is also heavily self-medicating to get through the night throwing back the wine like a champ. Shelly and her boyfriend, curly haired Tom (Tom Kelsey), Dale’s uni friend and cook for the weekend, organized the getaway, but it is not as relaxing as the stressed schoolteacher hoped. Snow has a Nicole Kidman meets Anya Taylor-Joy quality but is wholly unique in playing two different characters that always feel distinct. She does not look like a person to run screaming from, but she nails it.
In contrast, Jay (Nick Lavelle), a closeted, recreational drug user, shows a more limited range and limited comedic relief as the most juvenile friend in the group. Jay’s roommate (wink), Ben (James Akka), is the most useless doctor in the world. If Andrew Lyle-Pinnock was not the only Black person in the group, you would forget that his character, Danny, exists. Danny brought Jade (Daniela Norman), his girlfriend, who is the newest member of the group and is so awful that she somehow comes back around to being the best person in the group because she calls it like she sees it. One minute, she thinks Kate is crazy, but when the proverbial crap hits the fan, she also loves all of Kate’s ideas and acts on them immediately. Life comes at you fast, but Jade adjusts just as quickly. Norman is great as the awful, not performative nice, person in the friend group, but she loses steam as the movie continues. At some point, without Kate and Jade, the movie would be a lot shorter. Except for Dale, the guy characters are not as interesting as the women characters so the actors playing them do not have a lot to work with. Outside of the friend group, Hunter (Ian Whyte), a person who witnesses the invasion early, is memorable because Whyte has presence. It is the voice, the appearance and the chance to play a disturbing role. Whyte is in Christopher Lee territory. His performance ties everything together.
The dialogue in “The Nice Ones” worked really well because even when it was obvious what the light possessed people were saying and the meaning behind it, it is so obvious that it is easy to dismiss and think, “Oh but they could not be using light in the same way that Christians use light. It is aliens.” Once you get to the mirror with a Bible quote written in blood, you must leave Dale in denial land and join Kate. The horror/sci-fi metaphor is that a lot of people who profess to be Christians are literally hurting people so people should ignore their reassuring rhetoric and demeanor and pay attention to their actions. If that is too blasphemous for you, even though it is not canon in the movie, Lucifer was a light bringer so congratulations, you can now watch the movie without feeling guilty. It felt aligned with “Supernatural” and the idea of angels possessing people. Looking at the poster and the trailer, this is not a spoiler or twist. It is not subtext. It is text. Considering how many adults were raised on Christian fundamentalism, there is potential for a huge potential audience base who would be interested in this movie. Horror, sci-fi and movie fans will not feel left behind.
The real provocative aspect of “The Nice Ones” is the idea that on some level, this possession is a choice, not an orb of light forcing people to become possessed. The choices are dying, fighting back, or light or becoming a homicidal Stepford person who kills anyone who is not them to eliminate the darkness, i.e. being human. Fighting back is not easy, and here is where Rae shines because even though she wants to survive, she also does not want to do anything associated with her mental health issues, i.e. seem violent, even when it is self-defense and appropriate. The best idea is that possessing flaws should not mean self-abandonment, self-condemnation or surrender. This movie rejects all attempts at perfectionism and accepts the flaws, which is the real message of Christ.
“The Nice Ones” finds a nice budget way to introduce aliens with interrupted television signals, glitchy cell phones and flashing lights. The last scene is as satisfying as the end of a “Cloverfield” movie as the widespread impact becomes larger. Stylianou executes a beautiful sci-fi/horror movie with a thoroughly unlikable cast of characters and unlikely heroes whom viewers will still be invested in while embedding an essential and germane message of discernment.
