What I loved about The Darkest Hour: set in Moscow, not NYC–an alien invasion in Russia met my historical and alien apocalypse needs, the aliens felt original (waiting a few seconds for everyone to tell me how it wasn’t) & were ruthless, loved the featured animals who did their part to fight/escape the aliens, the modern take on chain mail, Russian characters, particularly Georgiy Gromov’s character, who isn’t even credited on imdb and appears on the horse. What I didn’t need: random Westerners, predominantly American, as main characters in Russia inspiring the natives… Seriously, they don’t need you: ask Napoleon & Hitler. Never start a land war in Russia. I didn’t need them to make the film relatable.