“May you reach the Dawn.” As a fan of UFOs and all things unexplained, I couldn’t wait to check out Cosmic Dawn. From the alleged real-life experience of director Jefferson Moneo, the film is an eerie and, at times, trippy tale revolving around aliens, a disappearance, and a seemingly innocent cult. As a child, Aurora witnesses the abduction of her mother. Later on in life, desperate to understand her mother’s disappearance, she finds her way into a seemingly innocent UFO cult, The Cosmic Dawn.
Almost all of the performances were great. The standouts for me were Camille Rowe, Emmanuelle Chriqui, and Antonia Zegers as Aurora, Natalie, and Elyse, respectively. Rowe does a fantastic job at playing the mentally troubled protagonist at various stages of her adult life (due to time jumps). Without diving much into spoilers, Chriqui and Zegers play their roles as the cult’s prominent members well without making it goofy, as one could easily do while portraying a UFO cult.
One of the first things to grab me, and my favorite thing about the film, were the visuals. Throughout Cosmic Dawn, the director utilizes bright, neon visuals that I thought juxtaposed the dreary subject matter the film portrays well. At times, the film had a vintage look to it which, when paired with the vibrant visuals, gave off vibes of movies like A Color Out Of Space and Mandy.
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Aside from the visuals, I really enjoyed the music and score. Composed by Alan Howarth (Escape From New York, They Live), the score features incredible synth-heavy music reminiscent of trippy ’80s flicks. Not only does Cosmic Dawn have a fantastic score, but it also includes several songs by the band MGMT and songs written by MGMT’s Andrew VanWyngarden. Viewers also get a “Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft” performance led by the cult’s leader, Elyse (Zegers). Thanks, Cosmic Dawn. This song is going to be stuck in my head for weeks.
Going into a film about aliens and UFO cults, I was expecting some campy ‘Lone Gunmen’ type tropes but was instead met with a steady and consistent tone of intensity, anxiety, and eeriness that kept me on the edge of my seat. The length was perfect at a runtime of 93 minutes, putting aside some issues.
The film felt, for lack of a better word, uneventful. The whole movie commits itself to setting up a big ending, and when we reach that point in the film, it falls a bit flat. Considering the subject matter, whacky neon visuals, and awesome ’80s-style score, I feel like the director played the ending a little too safe. I would have liked to see it get a little weirder, and I wanted to see the events at the end explored more. It was intriguing, but unfortunately, just not enough for a satisfying ending. Some dialogue-heavy scenes could have been cut down with time focused on other areas.
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Cosmic Dawn offers a visually stunning experience paired with an excellent score and fantastic performances. While it suffers from some pacing issues and certain things being set up and feeling like they didn’t go anywhere, the film makes up for it in other ways. If you’re looking for a neon-bathed, synth-infused, whacky trip involving aliens and cults, then this is definitely a film to check out.
