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CAPTIVE STATE ***
Dir: Rupert Wyatt (12A, 115 mins)
An alien invasion film set a decade after the human race has been overrun by an insectoid menace, this Chicago-set thriller focuses on the battles between human resistance fighters and human collaborators. Ashton Sanders, excellent in Moonlight, takes centre stage as freedom fighter Gabriel rebelling against the likes of John Goodman, who along with other pragmatists has accepted defeat in the face of overwhelming odds. Co-written with Erica Beeney, director Rupert Wyatt utilizes some of the CGI smarts learned in his previous blockbusters Rise of the Planet of the Apes using spectacle sparingly to create a believably occupied Earth. A homage to World War II resistance movies, with echoes of Nazi sympathisers and humanity at its best and worst, Captive State is similar to Neill Blomkampās District 9 in its grimy detailed worldview. The spiky alien designs are sufficiently interesting and otherworldly. The film smuggles in plenty of commentary on the state of the world, asking if humanity needs to be policed by another power before it destroys itself; smart sci-fi. Opens Mar 29