Watch the Skies Movie Review: Cosmic Dub

Watch the Skies blends alien mystery with AI dubbing tech in a charming 90s-set Swedish sci-fi adventure that will land smoothly with English audiences.

It carves out its path with a scrappy underdog spirit, an unexpectedly emotional core, and one big, weird innovation: it’s the first foreign-language film released in the U.S. fully dubbed using AI. That, alone, makes it worth a look. The fact that it’s also an enjoyable, heartfelt ride? That’s the real surprise.

Made by Crazy Pictures, a Swedish film collective based in Norrköping where Watch the Skies was shot, it doesn’t aim for Zemeck-ian grandeur or attempt to enter the holy halls of Donner, but it comfortably settles into that well-worn groove of outsider teams, extraordinary phenomena, and lovable little guys pushing against the edges of belief. What truly sets this film apart isn’t just its heart or throwback charm; it’s the AI visual dubbing (or vubbing) via TrueSync technology by Flawless Studio to alter the actors’ mouths to match their words. Gone are the awkward, delayed lip flaps with mismatched emotions; instead, actors appear to speak English, with their original Swedish voices digitally recreated and matched to manipulated mouth movements. Is it perfect? Not quite. However, it represents a significant step toward addressing the subtitle resistance that keeps many stubborn American viewers from experiencing international cinema. I’m a subtitle loyalist, and even I was surprised by how natural this felt.

After a brief prologue in 1988, the story lands in 1996 and follows defiant teenager Denise (Inez Dahl Torhaug), who’s convinced her long-vanished father wasn’t a deadbeat, but he was abducted by aliens. When a clue from the past literally falls from the sky, she returns to her father’s former team at UFO Sweden, an adorably ramshackle bunch of believers and burnouts. Despite the initial skepticism of their gruff but obliging ringleader Lennart (Jesper Barkselius), the group helps her uncover a mystery involving top-secret archives, shadowy authorities in business suits, and a rising tide of cosmic weirdness far stranger than just “a missing dad.” Skeptical adults, passionate teens, a government that knows more than it admits… It’s a classic setup that’s kept lively by how much personality it can squeeze out of otherwise standard plot machinations.

Director Victor Danell trades the world-ending disasters of his previous film with Crazy Pictures (The Unbelievable) for close encounters of the personal kind. Working with cinematographer Hannes Krantz, he pulls straight from the Spielberg playbook: flashlights cutting through the fog, long takes that build tension, and that eerie feeling that something just offscreen might flip your world upside down. The production design by Rasmus Råsmark hits the target with a dusty, analog 90s vibe without slipping into overbaked nostalgia, and the synth-heavy score by Oskar Sollenberg and Gustaf Spetz finds that sweet spot blend of The X-Files and Stranger Things without fully stealing from either.

At 116 minutes, the film occasionally drags, especially when the plot starts layering on techno-babble and dimension-hopping exposition. A tighter edit could’ve given the story more urgency and reduced the occasional wheel-spinning as we move into the effects-heavy third act. But for every clunky moment, there’s another that surprises or delights, and heart is what ultimately keeps Watch the Skies aloft. Denise isn’t just trying to prove aliens exist—she’s trying to prove her father didn’t abandon her. And that gives the movie real stakes. Her grief and stubborn hope infect the entire UFO Sweden crew, of which Töna (Isabelle Kyed), the chain-smoking techie, is a highlight.  Without going too far over the top, Kyed creates the kind of weird, no-nonsense sidekick every alien truther squad needs.

Unlike many contemporary sci-fi offerings obsessed with spectacle, Watch the Skies prioritizes the emotional investment of its audience. That throughline about belief, grief, and holding on to what might be true even when the world tells you you’re wrong hits home. It’s got the misfit charm of The Goonies, the sense of adventure from Flight of the Navigator, the team spirit of Explorers, and the emotional messiness of *Batteries Not Included.

The film’s AI dubbing technology raises fascinating questions about the future of filmmaking from an ethical and artistic angle. However, it doesn’t feel like a pure gimmick; it is a gateway for people who usually bounce off foreign-language films. It won’t replace subtitles, but it gives the viewer options. And for a tender-hearted, slightly bonkers sci-fi adventure about alien investigators looking to the stars for answers, it feels almost the ideal film to start with.

No, this isn’t a perfect movie. But it’s a remarkably enjoyable one to discover. Funny, sincere, occasionally off-kilter, and unexpectedly moving. It makes you believe not just in aliens, but in people, connection, and maybe even new ways of telling the same old stories. If the skies are watching us back, I only hope they’re into Swedish cinema.

Watch the Skies is now available to watch exclusively in AMC theatres.