This Sci-Fi Thriller Starring Riz Ahmed Is Full of Twists and Heartbreaking Turns

The Big Picture

Riz Ahmed's bold, innovative projects like Nightcrawler and Sound of Metal earned him acclaim and an Oscar nomination.
Encounter , a sci-fi thriller overlooked during its release, addresses mental health and features one of Ahmed's best performances.
Encounter offers a unique perspective on post-apocalyptic themes, focusing on Malik's trauma and personal journey.

Riz Ahmed has become one of the most exciting actors of his generation. While many of his contemporaries have chosen to either pine for awards attention by making “Oscar bait” biopics or signed up for multi-year deals with either Marvel or DC Studios, Ahmed has earned acclaim for bold, innovative projects like Nightcrawler, Four Lions, The Sisters Brothers, and Fingernails. While Sound of Metal was a critical breakthrough that earned Ahmed his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, not all of his films have been universally accepted. Despite positive reviews, Ahmed’s work in the emotional science fiction thriller Encounter was sadly overlooked during its initial release.

The failure of Encounter’s theatrical rollout is indicative of a larger issue with Amazon Studios and their distribution of non-award season projects. While the studio is willing to give a hefty theatrical release to major star vehicles like American Fiction or Manchester by the Sea, they’ve seemed less interested in producing idiosyncratic genre films that may only reach a niche audience. The disparity was particularly harmful to Encounter, a film that could have benefited from receiving more eyeballs during its initial release window. While it's certainly grounded in some unique science fiction worldbuilding, Encounter addresses critical themes about mental health and features one of the best performances of Ahmed’s career.

Encounter

Sci-Fi

Two brothers embark on a journey with their father, who is trying to protect them from an alien threat.

Release Date December 3, 2021 Director Michael Pearce Cast Riz Ahmed , Janina Gavankar , Octavia Spencer , Rory Cochrane , Keith Szarabajka , Lucian-River Chauhan Runtime 108

What Is 'Encounter' About?

Encounter centers on a lonely former United States Marine who begins to suspect that Earth is being taken over by parasitic organisms that resemble people, a theme common in classic science fiction horror films like Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Malik Khan (Ahmed) suspects that whatever is going on, the official word from authorities cannot be trusted. He decides to take his two sons, Jay (Lucian-River Chauhan) and Bobby (Aditya Geddada) on a road trip to reach an area where they cannot be found. This causes a rift with Malik’s ex-wife, Piya (Janina Gavankar), who is living with her new partner Dylan (Misha Collins). While Malik still has some affection for his ex, he recognizes that in these dangerous times, his children’s safety is more important than anything.

Encounter works as a twisty thriller because it never attempts to mask Malik’s checkered perspective. It’s evident from the beginning of the film that he is willfully self-isolating himself, as he fears what he will do if he attempts to return to normal society. This indicates that while Malik does not consider himself to be dangerous, he is aware that his presence could be upsetting for those like Piya who are not burdened by the same traumatic memories that he is. This makes him an even more inspiring hero; Malik is not even able to entirely trust his conscience, he puts his life on the line to protect his family. While his children are naturally upset and question the stability of his mental health, Malik decides to make an uncomfortable choice that he feels will eventually be beneficial.

'Encounter' Is a Profound Look at Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Encounter makes the smart decision not to attempt to mask its plot twist. It becomes very clear after spending a few moments with Malik that he is projecting his own anxieties about familial dysfunction onto the world. There is no actual alien invasion, and the world isn’t spiraling into a post-apocalyptic future. To treat this as a shocking reveal could have stigmatized the trauma that Malik was coping with, but Encounter turns his confused sense of reality into a sense of tragedy. It’s evident that Malik is not a crazed conspiracy theorist who's been embittered by rejection, but a caring father who is simply trying to keep his children safe. Ahmed’s genuinely sincere performance offers a far more empathetic depiction of masculinity, and fatherhood in particular, than what is often seen in genre films.

Encounter also does a great job of never breaking its internal sense of logic for the sake of spectacle. Throughout their road trip, Malik and his sons encounter various threats, and try to avoid detection at all costs. While it would have been easy to heighten these dangers by adding more action sequences, it’s easy to understand how each danger corresponds with a misinterpreted aspect of Malik’s reality. His fear of “bug-like creatures” is even explained after he mentions the grueling conditions that he was in while serving in the Marine Corps. Although Encounter avoids many direct moments of exposition that would have dulled the pacing, an appearance by Octavia Spencer as Malik’s parole officer, Hattie Hays, does help to clear up some of the more confusing elements.

'Encounter' Is Unique Among Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction Stories

Encounters plays upon the anxieties about a post-apocalyptic future in a unique way. While post-apocalyptic shows like Fallout or The Last of Us had to deal with setting up an entire mythology, that wasn’t something that Encounter could do, as most of the dangers are contained to Malik’s head. The film makes the savvy choice to only show events from Malik’s perspective. In addition to ensuring that the audience has a strong emotional connection to the character, this offers a uniquely personal perspective on what is perceived to be a global event.

The parameters of the post-apocalyptic thriller genre allow Ahmed to give one of the best performances of his career. Malik is a character who has become so traumatized by his experiences that he assumes no one has his best interests in mind, and that he will have to take on responsibilities that others may be too hesitant to honor. Malik’s journey isn’t just one of self-acceptance, but a development of willingness to accept help when he needs it most.

Encounter is available to stream on Prime Video in the U.S.

Watch on Prime