It’s fair to say that modern society has a problem – well, more than one, but stick with us here – and it’s our ‘phones. We don’t even use them as ‘phones anymore, rather they’re constant connections to a world of nonsense and news, but mostly nonsense. Su and Jack, the protagonists of Save Yourselves!, are not immune to the disease, and spend most of their time on their ‘phones or reaching for them to avoid awkward silences and actual human interaction.
After Su gets fired, they take the opportunity to spend a week in a remote cabin – with a pact to leave their ‘phones, laptops, and tablets well alone – and find out what it means to be human again. So far, so redemption story, but Save Yourselves! pitches off in an entirely different direction, and therein lies the comedy.
The debut feature from Alex Houston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson, Save Yourselves! is simultaneously a smart commentary on the frailties of modern humans, especially when separated from their devices, and a wry comedy about an alien invasion. Sunita Mani and John Reynolds, as Su and Jack, are just the likeable side of Brooklyn hipster, and their unfortunate situation reveals the humanity beneath the faux earnestness of their kind.
The ending may raise more questions than it answers, but Save Yourselves! is a lovely little film, a warm, human, slightly sci-fi drama that will make you smile, if not laugh out loud. This is the alien invasion film that we would star in, out of our depth and at the mercy of fate, and that’s what makes it such a charm.
