Review: Holes in the Sky: The Sean Miller Story

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2021
Images from the Internet

Holes in the Sky: The Sean Miller Story
Directed by Ash Hamilton
Moon Makers Media; Horror-Fix Films
114 minutes, 2021
www.facebook.com/HorrorFix

Some may call this found footage but it actually falls into the separate sub-category (though occasionally overlapping) of mockumentary. I realize most people think of that term as comedy, such as in those directed by Christopher Guest, but it goes beyond that narrow margin. In this case it is a realistic documentary style, albeit fictional.

Taking place mostly over a five-day period in Illinois, the topic of this release is more science fiction-based, though it uses the real names of the people involved, including the first-time feature director, Ash Hamilton, his wife Chanell Hamilton, who helped produce and was part of the crew, director of photography Brett Pearson, interviewer Douglas McDonald, producer Laura Richter, and others along the way, including well-known author and spook historian Eric Woods.

As the tag line explains, Sean Miller disappeared for four days in 2013, and now in 2020, a documentary crew is seeking to find out the truth about what happened to him. Part of what I find interesting is for a long time, the reasons for Miller’s disappearance is more hinted at than explained, though it is pretty obvious from the gecko (yes, I know it’s “get-go”; in the words of that great philosopher, Tommy Smothers, “Words to me are a plaything”) that the topic is alien abduction. The beginning is shrouded in mystery as the crew pulls up in front of Miller’s residence. Even at this point, Miller nor his family have been shown on camera. Heck, the Millers are not even listed on IMDB (neither is Pearson, but I find that may lead to part of the story; yes, I write this as I watch it).

We finally get to meet Sean and his wife Stacey nearly a third of the way through, and actually hear the term – alien abduction – nearly at the half way point. Following the formula from metaphysical films like Paranormal Activity (2007), the tension starts building as lights flicker, VHS-type visual noise appears on the footage, and pots go flying off the wall by themselves, among other spooky issues. Great! Two possibilities happening at once, both alien and supernatural! Nice.

Ash Hamilton

Two really interesting aspect to me about this moc is the way the mundane can suddenly turn into something precise about the storyline, such as a conversation about television cartoon shows that is downright creepy, and the other is the question of whether the 2013 taking of Miller by the undocumented aliens (sorry, bad attempt at political humor) is a random choice, or one that is planned and targeted. On some level, though there is obviously no correlation, the latter had me thinking of Xtro (1982).

One of my fave things about the film, which I suggested before, is that even though this is about the effects of an alien abduction, thematically there is a large element of nearly poltergeist motifs thrown in to the mix.

The dialogue seems to be non-scripted and free-flowing most of the time, even when it is obviously pointed in a certain direction. This gives it an improv feeling of reality that helps the picture and the tension to come.

The film is well structured in a way that is, at first, fun and a bit confusing, but title cards stating time-stamp information helps to clear this up in a-ha moments that reveal a bit of masterwork in the story’s chronological layout.

Sean Miller

There is also a more subtle aspect of the film that I found intriguing, and that is the use of technology. The two main video cameras are a somewhat professional level one and a cell phone, and there are indications of polaroid snapshots when there are issues with the digital captures. Also, there is the manipulation of images to make them sharper and clearer through professional means. So, we are dealing with high end and lower-level equipment, while contemplating a possible race of aliens with even further futuristic technology.

This has nothing to do with the film proper, but my one distraction was during a tense scene, when the camera pans over a box of LPs and I wanted to look through them. It seemed like the one in front was a picture disc. Yeah, I’m the kind of guy who stops a story when someone is talking in front of a bookshelf, and I check to see if I can tell what books are on the shelves. Sometimes I judge people by the books and music they keep. But I digress…

At nearly two hours, the film is a bit long, and some of the early footage (i.e., in the first 20 minutes or so) could have been culled a bit, but I must say, this could have been really dry, but Hamilton (the Hamiltons?), by mixing alien and poltergeist-type styles, managed to put together a documentary(ish) that is quite engaging and cohesive. As it delves on, it gets more compelling and enjoyable, right to the end, even if you can somewhat figure out what may be that conclusion.