In Touchdown, writer and director Josephine Rose utilises the real experience of lockdown to create a compelling science-fiction story. Whilst most of us spent lockdown mastering our banana bread recipes, pockets of dedicated filmmakers were continuing to create art. The most famous of all the pandemic movies is of course Rob Savage’s Host. Whereas Host fully built itself around the global outbreak, acting now as a time capsule snapshot, Touchdown has much grander aspirations.
Although only just now receiving its world premiere as part of the First Blood strand at this year’s Pigeon Shrine FrightFest, Touchdown was filmed during the global lockdows. Once settled in to watch Touchdown this fact becomes hard to believe. The story takes place across the world, following a group of friends as they try to remain connected during the arrival of a new lifeform to Earth. In the wake of a meteor storm the world closes down, people are confined to their households and the news updates and societal rules become progressively more authoritarian in nature. Importantly, the characters who are scattered around the globe were actually filmed on location, with Rose and cinematographer Gerry Vasbenter coordinating with crews in Los Angeles, Cape Town, and China. The result is a film that looks as if it was inspired by lockdown rather than created within its confines.
The cast is headed up by Clinton Liberty who has since gone on to star in House of the Dragon. As Jamie, Liberty’s performance is perfectly balanced. He does an excellent job at highlighting all of the emotions that people were feeling during solitary lockdown, whilst at the same time convincing the viewer that alien lifeforms are real. It is through Jamie’s reactions to things seen that the audience buys into the otherworldly aspects of Touchdown, and Liberty’s talents at playing pretend here are clearly what set him up well for his new role as a dragonrider. Living through this experience alongside Jamie are his close friends, which include potential love interest Emma (Cressida Bonas). That the friends can only communicate via technology is another aspect that the audience can relate too, and despite their imposed distance, the budding romance between Emma and Jamie still manages to convey itself.
Easy comparisons can be drawn to Gareth Edwards’ Monsters, with Touchdown, despite its high stake scenario, ultimately being an intimate exploration at human connection. The added layer of political statements presents topics for post viewing conversations, though its uncanny resemblance to our current situations might be too close for comfort. The same can be said of its footage of its various cities. Real videos of major cities around the world, captured during lockdown, populate the background of Touchdown; there’s something about understanding the authenticity of the image that makes it far more eerie. Whereas films such as Host and Andy Mitton’s The Harbinger directly referenced the pandemic, Touchdown creates the same visceral reaction purely by osmosis. The terror of the pandemic is woven into the fabric of Touchdown making this alien invasion story strike the emotions like no other.
Lockdown
Summary
Touchdown’s blending of real world reality and science-fiction fantasy works to create a remarkably affecting piece of filmmaking.
Lockdown was reviewed at Pigeon Shrine FrightFest 2024.
