Amazon Studios is working hard not to get eclipsed by Netflix as the prime developer of content for streaming. Following the release of The Neon Demon (2016), Suspiria (2018), and The Tomorrow War (2021), their new trump card is science-fiction thriller Encounter (2021), which is coming out on digital today.
The movie centers on a decorated Marine who goes on a rescue mission to save his two young sons from an unhuman alien threat. As their journey takes them in increasingly dangerous directions, the boys will need to leave their childhoods behind.
This is the new movie from filmmaker Michael Pearce, who won a BAFTA Film Award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director, or Producer with his debut feature film Beast (2017) after also being previously nominated for another BAFTA Film Award for his short film Keeping Up with the Joneses (2013). He has also been the writer of the screenplay together with Joe Barton, the creator of Giri/Haji (2019) mystery TV series, and mystical horror-thriller The Ritual (2017).
The movie is starring British-Pakistani Riz Ahmed, known for being nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in Sound of Metal (2019), and also present in Centurion (2010), Closed Circuit (2013), Nightcrawler (2014), Jason Bourne (2016), City of Tiny Lights (2016), Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), and Venom (2018). Together with him, Octavia Spencer, an Oscar winner for The Help (2011) and also star in Ma (2019), leads the main cast that also includes Janina Gavankar, Rory Cochrane, Keith Szarabajka, Lucian-River Chauhan, Antonio Jaramillo, Aditya Geddada, Brennan Keel Cook, and Bill Dawes.
Encounter (2021) had its premiere at the Telluride Film Festival, and after that, it was also part of the festivals Toronto International Film Festival, BFI London Film Festival, Deadline’s Contenders London, Chicago International Film Festival, and Philadelphia International Film Festival. After a limited theatrical release on December 3, 2021, now it is available on Prime Video on December 10, 2021.
Watch here the final trailer for Encounter (2021).
