Sean (Théodore Pellerin) is a high school senior with a lot on his mind. Trying to hold his family together despite living on the poverty line, he has to provide for his kid brother and look after his sick grand mother who requires around the clock care.
But really he just wants to dote over Alex (Stefanie Scott), a close childhood friend and eternal crush. When they’re both at a party, he has his chance to say something, ask her on a date, but instead he fluffs it, and she goes off skinny dipping with the school jock Tom instead.
When Sean heads home thinking the party’s over, he’s sure his chance has gone, but when he receives a call from Alex that something has happened and she’s in trouble; Sean is there to help in a flash.
Something happened to Alex while she was swimming, and when Tom ran off instead of trying to help, three mysterious lights appeared, putting Alex into some kind of trance. It was alien contact, and when Alex gets back to Sean’s house, other strange things start to happen, and she begins to realise the encounter might have left an impact in other ways too.
Though Jason Stone’s smart, unassuming sci-fi thriller struggles to carry it’s big ideas to the finish, it has a lot to say in the meantime. From life and love, to caring for those closest to us, First Light is a film about contact with aliens, deeply rooted in family and what comes first.
As the excitement ramps up and Alex and Sean go on the run, there are moments of real kineticism. The visuals are also not to be outdone. Shot by David Robert Jones, the cinematography and stunning overhead shots show an ambition far the beyond the film’s modest budget, with an elegant craft to everything you see on-screen.
Given the near perfect Arrival tackling aliens’ first contact so recently, First Light always faced an uphill struggle to s tand on its own feet. But it makes it, and Jason Stone has crafted an intelligent, low key sci-fi thriller, that explores big subjects despite running out of steam toward the finish.