“Found Footage” horror or sci-fi films are one of the most unique ways to immerse an audience into a fabricated reality. It’s a masterful cinematic illusion that blurs the lines between reality and fiction. “The Blair Witch Project” (1999), the famous franchise of “Paranormal Activity,” and “VHS” are some of the well-known examples of found footage horror that will baffle and keep you thinking even after the credit rolls. These films use the technique of showing a fictional story in a close-to-life documentary style, which is known as a mockumentary.
However, one thing that made these films fascinating is the storytelling technique, which can convince people to believe in them. Unfortunately, not every found footage film is as compelling as the films mentioned above. Released in 2009, Olatunde Osunsanmi’s found footage sci-fi horror “The Fourth Kind” was one of the messy ones as it seriously lacked a convincing storytelling technique. The line between reality and fiction doesn’t really blur in the film; rather, it annoys the target audience. Here’s a detailed explainer of everything going on in “The Fourth Kind,” in case it’s confusing to you.
The Fourth Kind (2009) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
What distresses Dr. Abigail Tyler?
“The Fourth Kind” claims to be based on real events featuring a psychologist named Abigail Tyler, who lives in the remote town of Nome, Alaska. The film shows archival footage of the supposedly real Abigail Tyler and her interview with the filmmaker while simultaneously depicting a fictional retelling of the incident. Dr. Abigail Tyler (Milla Jovovich) has recently lost her husband, William, who was killed in his sleep. A fellow psychiatrist and colleague, Dr. Abel Campos, initially interviewed Abigail, who described how her husband was murdered, which she had witnessed in front of her eyes.
However, even after the traumatic incident has shaken her off, she doesn’t take any leave from her duty as a psychologist. Several of her patients from Nome come to attend her therapy sessions, but almost all of them have similar problems. Her patients describe a similar kind of sleep disorder that wakes them up at 3.33 am with a very negative feeling inside. They also happen to see an owl outside of their windows.
Abigail cannot come to any conclusion because of the coincidental nature of this disorder. Hence, she decides to conduct hypnotherapy on her patients. But it makes matters worse, as one of her patients, after undergoing hypnosis, becomes hostile and kills himself along with his family. Confused and traumatized, Abigail still cannot make any sense out of it. Subsequently, she conducts another hypnotherapy, where one of her patients levitates and displays horrifying behaviors like screaming and muttering in unintelligible language. As the story progresses, it becomes clearer that all these people have been seeing a UFO in the sky, which is the very first symptom of this sleeping disorder or hallucination.
What is the “Fourth Kind?”
“The Fourth Kind” deals with the concept of alien invasion and the abduction of humans from the town of Nome. The film never explicitly shows alien creatures or any UFO, but it relies on the testimonies of the townspeople, including Abigail. After the hypnotherapy of her patients, Abigail comes to know that not only her patients have experienced this nightmare, but it has also happened to her. She comes to understand that some unintelligible language mixed with her inhuman screaming has been accidentally recorded on her tape. The next day, when she listens to the recording, she hears some ancient and incomprehensible languages.
She quickly contacts a historian and ancient language expert, Dr. Awolowa Odusami, who defines these spells as ancient Sumerian language. Backed by Odusami, Abigail finally realizes that this is not a mass psychosis from which all of them have been suffering. It’s the alien invasion on Earth, featuring four steps. The first step is a sighting, which means spotting the UFO in the sky. The second one is evidence, and the third one is contact, which is probably the sighting of the owl. And lastly, the fourth kind is abduction, when these alien creatures enter the house and abduct the humans during the night, causing their permanent disappearance.
The Fourth Kind (2009) Movie Ending Explained:
What Happened to Ashley and Dr. Tyler?
“The Fourth Kind” delves deeper into this abduction case and shows an exciting development. Dr. Tyler has also experienced a UFO sighting, but she couldn’t convince other people to believe it. The local sheriff, August, highly suspicious of this issue, doesn’t agree to trust any of her words. So, Dr. Campos suggests hypnotherapy on Abigail herself. The police keep an eye on Abigail’s house, and one of the constables also gets to see a UFO flying in the sky. As they quickly rush into the house, they find Abigail frantically panicking. She argues that her little daughter, Ashley, has been abducted by the alien beings, but no one is ready to trust her.
The depths of Abigail’s hypnosis reveal to August a horrifying truth: something otherworldly is manipulating them. Abigail levitates and starts screaming violently. The videotape, which is recording her, gets distorted. After the hypnotism, Abigail is admitted to the hospital, where she finally opens her eyes. Even though Abigail comes back to her senses, Ashley is still nowhere to be found.
Meanwhile, when Abigail is still processing the loss of Ashley, Dr. Campos and August break to her how her husband actually died. The investigation and found evidence have led them to believe that William wasn’t murdered, but he had shot himself to death. Abigail still cannot trust that her husband is capable of doing something like this, so she continuously denies the truth. Abigail believes that her husband might have been victimized by those supernatural beings who have forced him to kill himself. Abigail’s older child, Ronnie’s custody, is taken from her, and she is no longer allowed to parent him because of her alleged hallucinations.
Is this film based on actual events as it claimed to be?
All the archival footage and the lengthy interview scenes of Abigail Tyler are nothing but fiction in this film. You can clearly understand the look and feel of those videos and the very unconvincing performance by the actor named Charlotte Milchard, who played the real Abigail Tyler. There is no sign or evidence that any UFO has been seen in Alaska, but it’s, in fact, true that many people from this place have gone missing.
The film has tried to convince you that it might be the truth, but it is not. A great many people have spotted something in the sky and mistook it for a UFO. Still, they never experienced anything to the extent of the “Fourth Kind” or the supposed abduction committed by aliens. So, the film is entirely fictional, and not a single bit of this story is true.
Conclusion: Does this Blurring line between Reality and Fiction work for “The Fourth Kind?”
The makers have constantly tried to fool the audience by misleading them with the archival footage and the interviews, but they need to remember the fact that the audience is smarter than them. This docufiction storytelling could have worked amazingly if the performances weren’t a bit too dramatic and exaggerated. The film is monotonous and lacks any substance, such as “suspense” or “fear.” In the end, the film’s techniques to blur the line between reality and fiction don’t work at all, making it look like a silly attempt at found footage horror.
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