New alien abduction film 'Watch the Skies' is giving us Swedish Spielberg vibes (video)

Watch the Skies Exclusive Trailer (2025) - YouTube

Not since the days of Erich von Daniken's "Chariots of the Gods," director Steven Spielberg's "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," and publisher Bob Guccione's "Omni" magazine has there been this much interest in the study, history, and research of UFOs, an arena of curiosity branded as Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP).

The latest entry into the mysterious mire of flying saucer mania is a new abduction thriller from Sweden called "Watch The Skies." The ominous title is a nostalgic nod to the finale of director Christian Nyby's "The Thing From Another World" from 1951, where Scotty the newspaper reporter character warns the whole world of potential extraterrestrial visitors over the radio.

"Watch the Skies" was also the original name of Spielberg's "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," his sci-fi classic of 1977.

A woman stares up at a shimmering red sky on a movie poster — Official poster for director Victor Danell's "Watch the Skies." (Image credit: XYZ Films)

Premiering in theaters May 9, 2025 after a 2023 film festival circuit run and heralding from XYZ Films ("Ash") and directed by Swedish filmmaker Victor Danell, "Watch the Skies" is centered around a headstrong teenage girl named Denise who' s convinced that her missing father was snatched by aliens. She embarks on a daring rescue mission with a motley band of crazed UFO cultists to try and finally discover the truth.

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"Watch the Skies" stars Inez Dahl Torhaug (Denise), with Eva Melander, Jesper Barkselius, Sara Shirpey, Håkan Ehn, Isabelle Kyed, Niklas Kvarnbo Jönsson, and Mathias Lithner. Harnessing the evolving power of Artificial Intelligence with impressive results, the actors' real voices were translated into English by Flawless using their visual dubbing technology to synchronize lip movements from Swedish. We think this judicious use of AI and this dubbing process is definitely something to keep an eye on in the future.

"Watch the Skies" was originally titled "UFO Sweden" and hits U.S. theaters on May 9.

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Jeff Spry is an award-winning screenwriter and veteran freelance journalist covering TV, movies, video games, books, and comics. His work has appeared at SYFY Wire, Inverse, Collider, Bleeding Cool and elsewhere. Jeff lives in beautiful Bend, Oregon amid the ponderosa pines, classic muscle cars, a crypt of collector horror comics, and two loyal English Setters.