The Becomers: Anything for Love, by Tyler Smith
In the world of science fiction, there’s no shortage of “body snatcher” movies and it’s easy to see why. There’s something deeply unnerving about the idea of having our bodies taken over by another consciousness. In most, if not all, of these stories, the snatchers are aliens from another planet looking to infiltrate humanity so that they might conquer the world. Simply put, their intentions are always hostile. In Zach Clark’s The Becomers, however, the incognito aliens aren’t malicious at all. In fact, they are exceptionally loving beings. What the film suggests is that this might actually be worse.
The story begins with a spaceship crashing into earth and a curious onlooker being immediately possessed by the alien inside. We don’t know much about the circumstances of the crash; only that this alien is searching desperately for its lover. Initially, this means jumping from body to body as it searches for its soulmate. Once it reconnects with its other, they remain in the bodies of a suburban couple, content to just be with one another. Soon enough, though, they realize that humans are more complicated than they initially thought.
It’s a solid premise for a science fiction story. And Clark, with the help of a very capable cast, sidesteps the spectacle inherent in this type of film, choosing instead to focus on the emotional and relational. It is, in many ways, more of an independent romance with some sci-fi elements thrown in. Of course, these elements are not merely incidental, but are key to what the film is exploring.
The Becomers is very thematically complex. Just when you think you have a handle on what it’s about, another layer is peeled back and you’re left to contemplate these new developments. Perhaps the most obvious meditation of the film is on the concept of gender, as these two aliens show that it’s not their physical bodies that matter, but what’s inside them. The film also engages in some political satire, but it’s nothing we haven’t seen before.
What the film really digs into is love. More specifically, the unspoken sociopathic side of love. We are constantly bombarded with the idea that love is the most important thing in the world. I would be inclined to agree with this, but only on the assumption that love be tempered by morality. Loving another person with all of your being is a great thing, but not when it comes at the cost of other people. The love depicted in this film is undoubtedly pure, but leaves multiple bodies in its wake. This does not phase our lovers, emphasizing their inherent lack of humanity. They so believe that their love justifies their being here that it doesn’t even occur to them that they might be hurting people on their way to connection. In this way, the film evokes movies like Bonnie and Clyde and Natural Born Killers as much as any science fiction film, and we are all better for it.
The great film theorist Meat Loaf once said, “I would do anything for love, but I won’t do that”. This sentiment suggests that love, while undeniably important, should not blind us to the plight of those around us. Nor, indeed, morality itself. The Becomers depicts lovers who have no such caveat. The result is romantic, thought provoking, and even darkly funny, while remaining committed to showing the perils of completely unfettered love. It may not be the most common exploration in film, but it is nonetheless absolutely vital.
