Hot Tub Time Machine (2010) director Steve Pink returns with the lower key (but still silly) anxiety- fueled thriller Terrestrial. While this new effort does not feature Crispin Glover juggling a chainsaw, it does have reliable funny man Jermaine Fowler (Sting, The Blackening) using his talents to step into a new role as a slippery and suspicious character hiding a dark secret. Co-starring James Morosini (It’s What’s Inside), Pauline Chalamet (The King of Staten Island), and Edy Modica (Jury Duty), Terrestrial is a quirky thriller about what happens when your friends become hilariously unreliable and unpredictably dangerous.
After college pals Ryan (Morosini), Maddie (Chalamet), and Vic (Modica) receive a worried message from the mother of their mutual friend Allen (Fowler), the group take a quick trip to see him out in Los Angeles. To their surprise, he’s living in a mansion thanks to his unexpected success as a hot-on-the-scene Sci-Fi writer….or so he says.
“A quirky thriller about what happens when your friends become hilariously unreliable and unpredictably dangerous”
Allen‘s story isn’t really adding up but the friends take him at his word, unaware that they may have wandered into an incredibly dangerous situation that Allen is desperately trying to keep hidden from them. Is he as successful as he claims? Why won’t he let anyone answer the phone when it rings? Why is he always look so incredibly panicked at the simplest questions? And what the hell does this all have to do with some retro sci-fi television series that he talks about as though it’s a new religion??
Director Steve Pink takes a big swing with Terrestrial, stepping out of his comedy comfort zone to stretch into a darker genre-focused arena. Fowler does the same with his character Allen, who he plays completely straight but can’t help but get uncomfortable laughs. The movie isn’t a gut-busting gag-fest but it has a sense of humor you can’t escape because the characters are fun and the setting is so strange.
“A confident caper […with] plenty of sci-fi absurdity sprinkled on top.”
As the mystery unfolds and more layers are peeled back on Allen’s time in Los Angeles, the movie settles into a rhythm that fans of 90s crime thrillers will find comfortably familiar. The reveals aren’t earth shattering and the humor won’t necessarily have you doubled over, but Terrestrial is a confident caper that has a weird little personality with deliberately restrained performances and plenty of sci-fi absurdity sprinkled on top.
Steve Pink’s Terrestrial, written by Samuel Johnson & Connor Diedrich, celebrated its World Premiere at the 2025 Fantasia Film Festival. Click HERE to see what else we’ve discovered at the fest and let us know what you would do if your friend suddenly claimed to be a millionaire over in The Official Nightmare on Film Street Discord! Social Media is a cesspool. Come hang out where all the cool creeps are.
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