|Magical Mystery Media 26| Crop Circles! A FIELD FULL OF SECRETS

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

“Two friends step into a crop circle. One emerges unaffected. The other decides to build a UFO with the help of an eccentric transsexual inventor.”

If that’s not the greatest pitch ever we don’t know what is.

Charlie Maxwell is obsessed with crop circles. His friend Dax Phelan encourages him to return to his hometown in the UK to “get it out of his system.” In fact Charlie’s homecoming has the opposite effect, causing him to dive headlong into the proverbial rabbit hole.

With the help of eccentric inventor Nikola Romanski, Charlie invests huge amounts of time and money into an audacious scheme: decode the crop circles and build a flying saucer. Or a zero point energy device. Or whatever technology the aliens are trying to share with us.

Also, hope the thing doesn’t end the world when they switch it on.

WHAT DID WE THINK?

This was a pleasant surprise. It’s always refreshing when these kinds of films (and books) focus on the human experience, what it’s really like to confront the impossible.

Charlie – the protagonist and filmmaker – is a relatable guy with a self-deprecating sense of humor. His producer, longtime friend Dax, plays the straight man, reluctantly indulging Charlie in his expensive flights of insanity. The two bring a welcome humanity to the proceedings, and you can’t help but root for Charlie as his crazy plan reaches fruition.

Adam’s only complaint is that he would like to know more about the actual decoding of the crop circles, as well as the proposed functionality of the machine – er, “sweet potato.”

Very nicely made, A FIELD FULL OF SECRETS wisely focuses on the people rather than the phenomenon. Highly recommended.

A FIELD FULL OF SECRETS is on Amazon Prime and Netflix.

John: 5/5

Adam: 4.5/5