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Geek Girl Authority
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Girl Authority
Movie Review: WATCH THE SKIES
by Ray Schillaci The Movie Guys Swedish writer/director Victor Danell and co-writer Jimmy Nivrén Olsson deliver an extraterrestrial event with Watch The Skies, reminiscent of the nostalgic magic of a young Spielberg crossed with a light touch of Stranger Things. The most remarkable part about this movie is that it's a foreign film that, with the help of a company called Flawless, has made it accessible to the U.S. market by seamlessly dubbing and A.I.-generating the mouth and some facial movements of the actors, delivering an American shift that has become easily translatable and slightly different than the original film, entitled UFO Sweden. Other than the locations and the accents, audiences here at home will not be able to tell the difference, thus making Watch The Skies all the more accessible to America's viewers. Aside from that, the filmmakers have brought to our shores a film that is best seen on the big screen. I'm not talking about the 75' in your living room. This film benefits from a communal experience accompanied by the recent theatrical visuals and sound that have been provided by high-tech theater chains. RELATED: Movie Review: The Phoenician Scheme Here is a family film that has not been dumbed down. The filmmakers place us in the throes of characters with so much heart we cannot help but cheer them on as they venture towards a perilous journey led by one determined young girl whose father may or may not have been abducted (by either extraterrestrials or the government…for nefarious reasons). The mystery races through with excitement, good humor and spectacle. As a young child, Denise tagged along with her father on the elusive hunt for proof of the existence of UFOs, along with a small oddball team of enthusiasts that have formed a club. At one point, her father decides to go it alone in a certain region of the forest for the safety of his daughter. From there, he goes missing and we fast forward to many years later as Denise is now a troubled teenager. She has mapped out her goal of finding her father for years. Finally, achieving a breakthrough, she seeks the help of her father's former UFO club. My, have they aged and gotten even quirkier. Some may compare them to a grown-up version of Spielberg/Donner's Goonies. At first, they are leery of Denise since they felt abandoned by her father, who they felt went far too much on the fringe side of things. This is coming from a small group of eccentric conspiracy theorists who dabbled in federal crimes to chase their pursuit of the unknown. RELATED: Movie Review: From the World of John Wick: Ballerina Eventually, she is able to win some of them over to join her and they embark on an adventure that captures the attention of a covert government operation. Writer/director Danell and his writing partner, Olsson, present an exciting and unique experience that may have hints of Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Jordan Peele's Nope, but their film takes an unexpected approach that has us thinking about the story long after it is over. Their film feels refreshingly different and will have hearts racing as Denise's passion leads everyone through a harrowing conclusion. Danell and Olsson's combined effort has turned this into an event film in more ways than one, not only for its excellent storytelling, but for the advancement in technology that so many have questioned in the industry. A.I. has been the big bugaboo buzzword to many creative artists in the film community, but Flawless, the company that has made this movie more accessible than ever, believes it can be a tool that widens the audience for many films. Their goal is not to replace actors or take jobs away in the motion picture and television business, but to enhance the film's viewing capability. RELATED: Bring Her Back Spoiler Review Either way, Watch The Skies is a historical film for the ages with its technology that takes a foreign film and nearly seamlessly translates it to English (or Swenglish as the Swedes like to say). General audiences will be unable to tell that the film is dubbed. This is great for those who dismiss films with subtitles. Although there is the question if they would do this with older foreign films. It's doubtful since the process takes time and money. Besides, what truly enhances this technology is the original actors themselves who were used to dub their own voices. All the more reason to witness this enjoyable experience that delivers a punch not just by technology alone, but by wonderful storytelling, craftsmanlike production and engaging actors that capture our hearts. Visit Ray's blog at Directed by: Victor Danell Release Date: May 9, 2025 (original Swedish release date – December 25, 2022) Run Time: 115 Minutes Rated: PG-13 Country: Sweden Distributor: XYZ Films
The Age
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
Read my lips: AI-dubbed films are debuting in cinemas
Foreign language cinephiles can be split into two distinct categories – subtitle-lovers and those who swear by the dubbed version. Dubbing critics have long grumbled about the pitfalls of mismatched audio and awkward lip-syncing, but new technology is quietly changing the face (and mouths) of international cinema. Last week, Swedish sci-fi film Watch The Skies opened in US theatres – marketed as the world's first full-length theatrical feature to use AI for an immersive dubbing – a process that makes the characters look as though they are speaking English. XYZ Films partnered with AI start-up Flawless, which uses TrueSync, a visual tool which alters the character's mouth movements and speech to appear perfectly synced for an English-speaking audience. 'For the movie industry, this is a game changer,' producer Albin Pettersson declared in a behind-the-scenes trailer for the film. 'The Swedish language is a barrier when you want to reach out around the world.' It's important to note the AI tool has not replaced the actors – the original cast of Watch The Skies, having shot the film in Swedish, then recorded their English lines in a studio. This kept them compliant with SAG-AFTRA guidelines. 'I think a lot of filmmakers and a lot of actors will be afraid of this new technology at first,' added writer and director Victor Danell. 'But we have creative control and to act out the film in English was a real exciting experience.' Watch The Skies is the start of a long list of AI-dubbed international film collaborations between XYZ Films and Flawless set to be released in the US. They include French film The Book of Solutions, Korean flick Smugglers, Persian-language film Tatami, and German film The Light.
Sydney Morning Herald
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Read my lips: AI-dubbed films are debuting in cinemas
Foreign language cinephiles can be split into two distinct categories – subtitle-lovers and those who swear by the dubbed version. Dubbing critics have long grumbled about the pitfalls of mismatched audio and awkward lip-syncing, but new technology is quietly changing the face (and mouths) of international cinema. Last week, Swedish sci-fi film Watch The Skies opened in US theatres – marketed as the world's first full-length theatrical feature to use AI for an immersive dubbing – a process that makes the characters look as though they are speaking English. XYZ Films partnered with AI start-up Flawless, which uses TrueSync, a visual tool which alters the character's mouth movements and speech to appear perfectly synced for an English-speaking audience. 'For the movie industry, this is a game changer,' producer Albin Pettersson declared in a behind-the-scenes trailer for the film. 'The Swedish language is a barrier when you want to reach out around the world.' It's important to note the AI tool has not replaced the actors – the original cast of Watch The Skies, having shot the film in Swedish, then recorded their English lines in a studio. This kept them compliant with SAG-AFTRA guidelines. 'I think a lot of filmmakers and a lot of actors will be afraid of this new technology at first,' added writer and director Victor Danell. 'But we have creative control and to act out the film in English was a real exciting experience.' Watch The Skies is the start of a long list of AI-dubbed international film collaborations between XYZ Films and Flawless set to be released in the US. They include French film The Book of Solutions, Korean flick Smugglers, Persian-language film Tatami, and German film The Light.
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Teenage drama is interrupted by extraterrestrial phenomena in this exclusive clip for 'Watch the Skies' (video)
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Flying saucer enthusiasts and curious Ufologists will be craning their necks toward the heavens after checking out our exclusive clip for "Watch the Skies," a refreshing Swedish sci-fi movie being released on May 9, 2025, from XYZ Films ("Ash"). Titled "UFO Freak," the uncanny 2-minute sneak peek reveals strange phenomena erupting around a group of teens hanging out at a late-night gathering in an abandoned building, causing them to scatter. This charming, nostalgic film is also being billed as the world's first "AI-dubbed" international flick using a procedure developed by Flawless to match up the lip movements of the characters from Swedish to English, and the results are pretty impressive. The process required the original foreign actors to record their dialogue in English prior to applying the pioneering TrueSynch technology. Directed by Swedish filmmaker Victor Danell, "Watch the Skies" involves a spunky teenager named Denise whose father has vanished and was possibly abducted by extraterrestrials seen in the nearby forests. She hooks up with a local investigative association called UFO Sweden and its misfit band of colorful characters who help her discover the truth of this UFO mystery. "Watch the Skies" arrives in U.S. theaters on May 9 with an ensemble cast that includes Inez Dahl Torhaug (Denise), with Eva Melander, Jesper Barkselius, Sara Shirpey, Håkan Ehn, Isabelle Kyed, Niklas Kvarnbo Jönsson, and Mathias Lithner.
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
AI-dubbed Swedish sci-fi movie 'Watch the Skies' came about after the director had coffee and tarts with a local UFO chaser group (interview)
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. When XYZ Films' Swedish sci-fi adventure movie "Watch the Skies" has its American debut on May 9, 2025, Hollywood and fans will also get a remarkable look at its AI-driven TrueSynch 'visual dubbing' administered by the British startup firm Flawless AI. This nostalgic feature film is set in 1996 and focuses on a small town teenage girl named Denise, whose father mysteriously vanished one night years ago while investigating a flying saucer sighting in the nearby forested hills. Determined to unravel the reality behind his disappearance, the feisty girl bonds with a group of antisocial enthusiasts at a local UFO club called UFO Sweden, who aid her in searching out the truth about her dad in true "The X-Files"-like fashion. Directed by Victor Danell for his Crazy Pictures production shingle, "Watch the Skies" will be the first flick to demonstrate this immersive technology, where the film's original Swedish-speaking cast has re-recorded their lines in English for AI tools to match lip movements. Once foreign films leave their home territory, an immediate language barrier exists. This pioneering new AI technology of "visual dubbing" opens up a whole new way to release and introduce their Swedish film (and countless others) to a far wider audience and helps retain the actors' screen performances. Part of the movie's originality and warmth comes from the natural inclusion of cultural customs unique to the Swedish people, and that means the obligatory communal sipping of coffee and munching on tarts. "It's a traditional Swedish thing that we do called Fika, where you have kind of a coffee break," Danell explains to "Especially in these types of volunteer associations, what you do is have meetings where you're drinking coffee and having Fika and eating buns and tarts. And that's something we wanted to bring into the movie, because it's a bunch of outsiders that want to solve this big mystery, but they also just want to be together having Fika, coffee, and tarts." The misfit UFO cult that forms "Watch the Skies"' core is based on an actual flying saucer society in the country called UFO Sweden, giving the project an engaging authenticity. "We all grew up in the '80s and '90s with these old-fashioned sci-fi movies as our base in our filmmaking," he adds regarding project influences. "Who doesn't love early Steven Spielberg and films like that? So we were inspired by those movies and we heard about this group in Sweden, a real association called UFO Sweden. We saw a documentary about them and knew we had to look them up. Are they for real? What we found out is that UFO Sweden is based in our hometown called Norrköping. "Not only that, but their headquarters are across the street from my apartment. So we just went down the street and knocked on the door and asked if we could come in to learn about their work. So we all sat down for Swedish Fika and they told us that they're a UFO investigation group and if you see something in the sky you can call them and they'll help find out what you saw. They're gathering an archive of UFO sightings from around the world in their basement and it's the largest UFO archive in the world. They showed us around and when we left their headquarters we knew that this was our next movie. We just needed to find a story that could take these lovely guys out on an adventure larger than they usually went on." "Watch the Skies" is imbued with a heartfelt reality even though its story is rooted in paranormal events, and its striking cinematography enhances a certain retro appeal. "The cinematographer is Hannes Krantz, one of our partners in Crazy Pictures. Actually, I built the lenses for this movie myself. It's a mix of old Contex still photography lenses with the anamorphic block off an old projector combined together. It's kind of nerdy but the look of the movie is a big part of making the audience feel like this is an old nostalgic throwback to the '70s and '80s. It was hard work making that look. "Sweden doesn't do a lot of genre movies. We went into this thinking it would be quite hard to make a Swedish science fiction movie. It actually wasn't. I think the Swedish audience also is ready for one so it went quite easily. But it's still hard to make a good sci-fi movie. We're so excited to see what will happen with this movie. We released it in Sweden and now it's coming out in the U.S. and we're so thrilled to see how it will go." "Watch the Skies" stars Inez Dahl Torhaug, Eva Melander, Jesper Barkselius, Sara Shirpey, Håkan Ehn, Isabelle Kyed, Niklas Kvarnbo Jönsson, and Mathias Lithner.
