Move over America, it’s time for the Aussies to fight back against the Alien attack!

Occupation is a low-budget Australian sci-fi thriller that follows a group of survivors from a small town who must band together and put their differences aside in order to hold back an onslaught from alien invaders. Directed by Luke Sparke, this fun independent film may not break any new grounds but it certainly puts many Hollywood blockbusters to shame (especially in the CGI camp – we’re looking at you Justice League).

From the outset, it is clear that everyone involved in this movie knew exactly what it was they were making. It wasn’t going to set the world alight but they wanted to share a fun, fresh take on the alien invasion genre and have fun in doing so. Each member of the cast put heart and soul into their performances with even the most typical of genre tropes being present but was made bearable. The design of the alien race was neat, with practical effects being chosen over CGI (which based on their budget was the best idea when the aliens had a prolonged on-screen appearance) and an admirable space suit being created which gave them a menacing feel.

The major downside of Occupation is that it felt painfully elongated in its storytelling. At a two-hour runtime, a cool 20 minutes could have easily been shaved off which may have kept the tension and action free flowing at a much more manageable pace.

That being said, the film was overall entertaining and managed to do something unfamiliar in the invasion genre by giving the aliens a degree of humanisation towards the final act. Expect to see this title make its way to Amazon Prime or Netflix in your local area in the coming months. Also, a major shout-out to the director and casting team for getting Australian cult hero Bruce Spence (Mad Max) on board to play the Alien Leader.

OCCUPATION / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: LUKE SPARKE / STARRING: DAN EWING, STEPHANIE JACOBSEN, CHARLES TERRIER / RELEASE DATE: JULY 20TH (US), TBC (UK)