source: Cosmic Dawn

I highly recommend this to anybody who enjoys slower paced, cerebral, emotional SciFi, and/or anyone who enjoys the cult genre. I happen to enjoy both, which is why I took a chance on it with such a low rating. This is a compelling story following a girl who had an UFO experience in childhood. One that she has never been able to cope with properly. Her trauma makes her vulnerable to the influence of a cult later in life. Most of this film bounces back and forth between a four year period when she reaches early adulthood. Although this sometimes feels confusing, because we are often introduced to characters in the present, when there is an obvious back story from the time frame set four years prior, it very effectively produces an air of mystery. Trust the the connections will be made in following scenes. A SciFi fan who enjoys plots based mostly on scientific fact will be disappointed. This film focuses more on the "what ifs", or is it possible? It's deeply emotional and character driven, with the plot unfolding slowly. I gave it a 9/10 to help offset some of the lower ratings. Realistically It's probably a 7.5/10. I find the most helpful part of reviews, when undecided about investing my time in a low ranked film, is a comparison to other movies. If you enjoyed Brit Marlins "Sound of My Voice" or "The Endless", both of which also have cult themed SciFi, you will love this film. Obviously, I recommend both of those films if you enjoyed this one.

This movie had potential but unfortunately it demonstrates perfectly that most of the time, overly complex style of storytelling does not mean an increase in quality or interest. In the case of Cosmic Dawn, we have a back-and-forth in time style which I personally found quite unnecessary while the overall pace remaining mainly flat. This does not help the movie, which is based in a solid X-Files-like premise of alien abduction. Generally, Cosmic Dawn has some advantages, some of which include nice atmosphere and the good use of special effects and visuals but it kinda drags for a long time, while the plot twists are generally not as interesting as the production team would like to think. It's a slow-burn scifi mystery but not that engaging or interesting and with very little action. The actors give generally good performances but at the end of day there are very few things that one will remember from Cosmic Dawn a couple of weeks after viewing.

I hadn't heard about this 2022 sci-fi thriller titled "Cosmic Dawn" from writer and director Jefferson Moneo prior to sitting down to watch it. Normally, I am not overly keen on sci-fi movies, but the synopsis for this particular movie actually sounded interesting, and thus I opted to watch it. I will say that writer and director Jefferson Moneo managed to deliver a rather unique movie here, for better or worse. "Cosmic Dawn" is not your average run-of-the-mill mainstream movie, because the storyline is pretty far out there. And in that sense, then writer and director Jefferson Moneo managed to capture the dangers of a cult and the way that a cult works in brainwashing and manipulating its members in a rather entertaining manner. Sure, I am no expert on cults, and never been in a cult, but I really found the portrayal of the Cosmic Dawn cult in this movie rather interesting. The movie was actually entertaining and it is worth watching, especially if you enjoy movies that are not mainstream movies. It was a refreshing change of pace, I would say, and I can recommend you sit down to watch "Cosmic Dawn" if you get the chance. While "Cosmic Dawn" was enjoyable and entertaining throughout the entire course, I have to admit that I didn't care much about the last 5 minutes of the movie and the ending to the movie. But of course, that is a matter of personal taste and preference. But other than that, then I found "Cosmic Dawn" to be wholesome and entertaining. While I wasn't familiar with the cast in "Cosmic Dawn", I will say that they had managed to put together a great cast ensemble, and the actresses and actors in the movie really put on good performances. I was especially impressed with Antonia Zegers (playing Elyse) and also Camille Rowe (playing Aurora). This movie is strange and bizarre, no doubt about it, but that is part of what makes it enjoyable. My rating of "Cosmic Dawn" lands on a six out of ten stars.

After witnessing an alien abduction as a child and dealing with the trauma of it for her entire life, Aurora (Camille Rowe, The Deep House) has read a book about The Cosmic Dawn before she's drawn into the orbit of the cult's leader Elyse (Antonia Zegers). Wondering just how real this could be? Director and writer Jefferson Moneo claims to have had an alien experience as a child and that this could all be real. As she becomes entrenced into the cult, her consciouness expands, she learns more about why and how her mother was abducted and begins to worry about the more bizarre way that the cult has begun to act. Then, the film fast-forwards to years after the cult has been broken up, yet Elyse reappears and claims that she can access another dimension and is also planning a mass suicide of all still-believing cult members. With a score by Alan Howarth, music by MGMT and a perfect scene with the songs "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft" - originally by Klaatu and then also released by The Carpenters - as well as a purple/pink neon color palette that feels straight out of Color Out of Space, this is an odd duck of a film and I say that in the best possible tone. I've often wondered just why someone would join a cult like this and seeing the reasons why Aurora comes to the initial meetings to the initial joy she feels in belonging to something makes it all seem so much more normal than you'd ever think. And then the movie gets delightfully strange.

Just watch it as an antidote to the cycle of generic blah that is coming out. If you don't take it too seriously and are mature enough to overlook the budget then this film offers some genuinely great moments.

Just wow. I hope that the director received accolades for this gorgeous piece of art at all the most important film festivals. This is an incredible film, one with something for everyone to enjoy - for example, when the cult ecstatically danced and sang to "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft", I knew that i would follow them forever. The acting on this film is worthy of all the Daytime Emmies, all of them, even the ones for technical stuff and craft services. The acid sequence was also a winner. I took acid once at a small festival in the early 2000s and it was exactly as portrayed. Uncanny. And the ending? No spoilers but hang on to your hats! Whoo! Pheoooooow.

Its sort of an adduction movie with a twist. The main lead looks like a teenager and she is in her 30 kind of weird. The acting is good, but you need to like weird movies.

Some of the acting is not perfect, to be sure, but this movie is a small masterpiece, and it is already being, and will be, so recognized. Psy travellers will know that herein is to be seen on a screen some of the most real renditions of the unrenderable.

"Cosmic Dawn" is the type of movie you hope to run across when you are perusing the new releases. It's an engrossing and entertaining little film that almost defies categorization. The movie starts with Aurora on a camping trip with her mother, where she sees her mother apparently abducted by aliens. We jump forward, and Aurora is now fully grown and with some serious issues, needless to say. A chance meeting in a book store with a woman named Natalie leads her to a group of like minded "UFO experience survivors" led by Elyse, who has written a book called "Cosmic Dawn." The movie then jumps four years later, and we spend the movie going back and forth between the timelines, showing us Aurora's experiences with what turns out to be a cult and what is happening four years later when it appears she is being haunted by her past... "Cosmic Dawn" does just about everything right. It's got an appealing heroine that we are rooting for and a captivating, intelligent storyline that keeps your interest throughout, and it has an ending that pays off. Special effects are good, and not overused. The acting is uniformly excellent, with special kudos to Emmanuelle Chriqui and Joshua Burge as Aurora's closest friends in the cult and Antonia Zegers as the creepy -- but not too creepy -- leader. And model turned actress Camille Rowe is a minor revelation as Aurora, wonderfully straddling the line between belief and non-belief. (And on an aside, she was probably thrilled to get offered a role that doesn't depend on men drooling over her beauty). And "Cosmic Dawn" is the early favorite for "Best Scene in a Movie for 2022", when the leader of a UFO cult leads the cult members in singing Klaatu's "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft." The movie deftly mixes science fiction, drama, religion, cults, and a small dash of horror into an absolute winner. All in all, "Cosmic Dawn" get an easy recommendation, definitely worth checking out.