Skyline

As the cinematic curtain rises, a mesmerizing spectacle of falling blue lights, akin to celestial flares, illuminates the darkened landscape of Los Angeles. The nocturnal glow casts an eerie ambiance over the city's terrain, like a harbinger of events yet to unfold. In a cozy suburban home, young lovers Jarrod (Eric Balfour) and Elaine (Scottie Thompson) are suddenly jolted awake by the bluish radiance seeping through their bedroom window, as if the very fabric of reality was being pierced by an otherworldly force. Elaine's disoriented gaze is met with a sea of blue-black veins coursing through Jarrod's skin, like tendrils of some ancient, forgotten power. His eyes, once bright and full of life, now appear mottled-opaque, as if the essence of his being was slowly seeping away into the ether.

The eerie tableau is not limited to their domicile alone; elsewhere in the building, Candice (Brittany Daniel) and Terry (Donald Faison), a childhood friend of Jarrod's, are also roused from their slumber by the inexplicable blue lights. As they stumble out of their bedroom, they're met with an unsettling sight: their friend, Denise (Crystal Reed), frantically crying out that the very fabric of reality has torn asunder, leaving her bereft of a loved one, Ray (Neil Hopkins). The once-quiescent atmosphere is now charged with foreboding, as if the very darkness itself was stirring, awakening ancient powers and primal fears.

Fifteen hours prior, Jarrod and Elaine had arrived in Los Angeles, eager to celebrate Terry's birthday amidst the trappings of his luxurious lifestyle. As they stepped off the plane from New York, they were greeted by a sleek limousine, courtesy of their host, who had spared no expense in ensuring their visit would be nothing short of indulgent. The apartment, replete with opulent furnishings and gleaming surfaces, seemed the epitome of success, as if Terry's meteoric rise to the pinnacle of his special effects company had brought him a wealth of material comforts.

As they settled into their new surroundings, the group was introduced to Candice, Terry's lovely girlfriend, and Denise, his poised personal assistant. The evening unfolded with effortless abandon, as they indulged in revelry by the poolside, the sound of champagne corks popping and laughter mingling with the distant thrum of Homeland Security helicopters patrolling the nearby marina. It was a night meant to be savored, with Terry's friends and acquaintances mingling like old times, oblivious to the impending darkness that would soon shroud their world.

Later that evening, as the party showed no signs of abating, Oliver (David Zayas), the building manager, made his presence known, requesting that the revelers keep their merriment in check, owing to complaints from other residents. Little did they know, their night was about to take a drastic turn, one that would forever alter the trajectory of their lives and plunge them into a world of unmitigated terror.

As tensions simmer beneath the surface, a seismic revelation shatters the fragile harmony: Ray, Terry's trusted associate, casually lets slip that his boss has designs on Jarrod relocating to Los Angeles, where he'll collaborate with Terry on visual effects projects. Jarrod's noncommittal reaction only fuels Elaine's ire and distress, which escalates when she reveals her pregnancy to an unsuspecting Jarrod. His reluctance is palpable, and she concurs, sparking a temporary rift between the couple. The aftermath of their reconciliation brings yet another bombshell: Terry's clandestine infidelity with Denise is exposed, leaving Elaine eager to unburden Candice of this painful truth. However, Jarrod's desire to shield his friend from harm prompts him to silence her, sealing the trio's secrets.

Meanwhile, Day 1 dawns with an enigmatic opening: a mesmerizing display of blue lights raining down upon the cityscape, one of which crashes into the courtyard outside their high-rise apartment building. As Denise narrates Ray's abduction, Jarrod is dragged away from the luminescent orbs, his eyes struggling to adjust as they dissipate, leaving behind a trail of discomfort and disorientation. The ethereal blue flares vanishing into the night sky signals the beginning of this extraordinary odyssey.

As the narrative unfolds, Terry and Jarrod ascend to their rooftop vantage point, each clutching a symbol of their respective pursuits: Terry's revolver and Jarrod's camera. Their path is momentarily intercepted by Walt (Robin Gammell), an elderly neighbor accompanied by his loyal canine companion. The pair dispatches Walt back to the safety of his apartment, as the ladies below grapple with deciphering the mystery that has engulfed their lives. In a world where information flows like water, the trio finds themselves isolated from the outside world: TV channels remain silent, news stations broadcasting hollow studio sets. Elaine's desperate attempt to connect with her mother in New York yields only an empty voice mail, heightening the sense of disconnection and foreboding.

As the rooftop's metal door creaks shut behind Jarrod, he gazes out upon a dawn-lit Los Angeles, where towering clouds are transformed into churning vortices of dust and debris. The air is electric with anticipation as the group beholds an armada of alien spacecraft descending from the heavens, their varied shapes and sizes eerily reminiscent of some ancient, extraterrestrial armory. The security cameras' blue flares rekindle their glow, only to reveal a chilling truth: the "clouds" are actually thousands of hapless humans being mercilessly vacuumed into the ships' gaping maws. Jarrod's Canon EOS camera captures the atrocities as they unfold, while Terry frantically tries to reopen the door handle. But fate is not on their side, and Elaine's timely intervention from within the apartment building saves them from becoming an alien snack.

As the group ponders the horrors they've witnessed through Jarrod's lens, Candice's gaze lingers on a particular image, her expression darkening further as she discovers Terry and Denise's compromising position. Though visibly enraged, she maintains a stoic silence.

Meanwhile, peering through the apartment's telescope, the crew is shocked to discover that the alien invasion seems confined to the city limits. It's then that Terry proposes an escape plan: driving to the marina, commandeering his boat, and making a break for open waters. Elaine tries to persuade her companions to bide their time, hoping someone will come to their aid, but eventually relents, agreeing to join Terry on his ill-fated quest.

Terry's subsequent visit to Walt's apartment proves calamitous, as a hovering flying drone sends its probing tentacles into the room while Walt is distracted by his yapping canine companion. Walt and the dog are abruptly sucked away by the alien menace, leaving Terry to flee with Walt's Mercedes keys. With their friends in tow, they hasten to the underground parking garage via elevator, their next move uncertain but their desperation palpable.

As the chaotic exodus unfolds, Terry and Denise commandeer Terry's sleek Ferrari, while Candice chauffeurs Elaine and Jarrod in Walt's imposing Mercedes. The convoy encounters a quarrelsome couple, Colin (J. Paul Boehmer) and Jen (Tanya Newbould), frantically loading their vehicle as they too attempt to make a swift exit from the premises. Terry beats a hasty retreat, but his Ferrari meets an untimely demise beneath the colossal feet of a towering alien tanker, crushing Denise in the process. In a desperate bid to escape, Terry leaps out of the wreckage and futilely fires at the gargantuan behemoth with his weapon, only to be dragged back by its grasping claws as if swallowed whole.

Jarrod springs into action, pulling Terry to safety just as Elaine rushes Jarrod back into the comparative sanctuary of the Mercedes. Candice expertly navigates the vehicle while the monstrous alien tanker continues its relentless pursuit, attempting to breach the garage's entrance. As they make their escape, the group encounters a bizarre, multi-blue-eyed squid-like extraterrestrial life form, eerily reminiscent of the beings from Independence Day and the bio-mechanical robots from The Matrix.

The creature ensnares Colin with its tentacles after paralyzing him with its piercing blue light. Cornered, it affects Jarrod with the same debilitating energy. Just as all hope seems lost, the building's manager, Oliver, arrives on the scene in his SUV, crashing into the squid-like entity and sending it reeling. With Colin freed from the creature's grasp, Oliver and Jen rush to his side, only to discover that the squid has merely recharged itself by assimilating a portion of Colin's brain.

With Oliver now in possession of the building's keys, he hastens to open an internal security door, allowing the group to escape into the garage. In their haste, they make a beeline for the back gate entrance, but are confronted by the two-legged alien tanker, which unleashes a trio of sticky appendages to ensnare them. The creature then closes in, swallowing Jen whole.

Cornered between the two giant aliens, Oliver shatters a glass door and the group flees into the relative safety of Terry's apartment, where they regroup amidst the chaos and destruction.

As the somber reality of their situation begins to sink in, Jarrod's (character) angst intensifies, his youthful immaturity replaced by a crushing sense of regret for failing to save Terry. Meanwhile, Elaine's frustration boils over, her anguish compounded by the fact that no one heeded her warnings, leading to a futile attempt at escape that came at a devastating cost. Amidst this backdrop of despair, Candice takes a moment to indulge in her nicotine habit, but Elaine's maternal instincts kick in, prompting a stern request to put out the cigarette, as she is expecting a child and fears the mysterious blue light may have irreversible effects on their developing offspring.

As the day wears on, Jarrod and Oliver take up watchful positions outside the building, barricading the front door while the women rest. The monotony of this vigil is broken only by the occasional glance through the telescope, which reveals the military engaging the extraterrestrial forces in a desperate bid to reclaim the streets. As night begins to fall, the group's meager supplies are further diminished with the announcement that water will no longer be available.

The morning after (Day 2), the four survivors gather to discuss their next move. Jarrod remains resolute in his determination to reach the marina and commandeer Terry's motorboat, hoping to escape the ravaged city. However, Oliver and the others are adamant in their opposition, cautioning that even if they successfully escape Los Angeles, there is no guarantee of finding refuge elsewhere, as the global scale of the invasion becomes increasingly evident. The news blackout on television, radio, and internet since yesterday morning serves as a grim reminder of the scope of devastation unfolding worldwide.

Jarrod's stubbornness in the face of uncertainty only seems to intensify his desire for escape, despite having no clear plan or destination in mind, leaving his companions to wonder if he is driven more by desperation than reason.

As the group's heated discussion is suddenly interrupted by the sonic boom of jet fighters overhead, they rush to the window to behold a breathtaking spectacle. With Oliver peering through the telescope and the others gathered around the flat-screen TV, their gaze falls upon the remaining alien ship hovering above downtown Los Angeles - an imposing behemoth that seems to mock the city's skyline. The US Air Force has launched a counter-attack against the extraterrestrial forces, deploying a formidable armada of unmanned drones: swarms of stealthy Predators, each armed with deadly sidewinder missiles, escorting a handful of high-tech Stealth bombers into battle.

The ensuing aerial dogfight is a mesmerizing display of technological prowess and sheer ferocity. Hundreds of alien drones, resembling a swarm of wasps defending their hive from a marauding horde of insects, engage the Predator and Stealth drones in a desperate bid to protect their mother ship. The air is filled with the cacophony of crashing drones, as both sides suffer heavy losses. Yet, despite their valiant efforts, the alien drones seem heedless of their own peril, recklessly charging forward to meet their demise.

As the battle rages on, the group watches in awe as most of the Predator and Stealth drones are systematically eliminated. One lone Stealth bomber manages to break through the chaos, its missile streaking toward the alien ship before it too meets a fiery end. The resulting nuclear explosion sends shockwaves rippling across the cityscape.

As the dust settles, the group gazes upon the ruins of the alien ship, now a smoldering hulk on the ground. But their jubilation is short-lived, as they soon realize that the mother ship has been left severely damaged yet still operational. The once-crumbling hulk begins to glow with an eerie blue light, and from its depths emerge thousands of alien drones, tankers, and squid-like creatures, swarming forth like a dark tide to engulf the city.

As the group's euphoria gives way to stark terror, they watch in horror as the alien ship slowly rises into the air once more, its broken-off pieces reattaching themselves with an unsettling sense of self-regeneration. With the blue light from the mother ship threatening to permeate their sheltered space, Oliver and Candice hastily tape up sheets over the windows, desperate to shield themselves from the otherworldly glow emanating from this monstrous, regenerating entity.

As the group gazes out in stunned silence, a military helicopter descends onto the nearby building's rooftop, discharging a contingent of soldiers. Jarrod seizes the initiative, resolving to evacuate with Elaine by his side. Oliver attempts to intervene, but Jarrod's transformation into a vessel of raw power - fueled by the celestial blue light that has captivated him - proves too formidable to resist. With Elaine by his side, Jarrod asserts his dominance and refuses to depart without his family intact. Her trust in him unwavering, they abandon their precarious perch and flee the rooftop.

Meanwhile, Candice's fascination with the colossal regenerative ship's luminescent aura proves to be her undoing. As she gazes through the telescope, her skin begins to writhe and twist in a grotesque parody of Jarrod's earlier metamorphosis. The door creaks open, and Candice steps out into the void, unaware that a sinister cephalopod lurks mere feet away. Oliver valiantly attempts to intervene, but his efforts are for naught as Candice is spirited away by the squid-like alien. Barely escaping with his life, Oliver barely has time to process the horror before it claims its next victim.

On the rooftop, Jarrod and Elaine bear witness to the apocalyptic chaos unfolding below. The U.S. Navy fleet, having arrived offshore, proves no match for the relentless onslaught of aerial combat. Jet fighters valiantly engage stomping tankers and hovering alien drones, yet their efforts are ultimately futile against an enemy so formidable. As the duo watches in helpless dismay, a military helicopter, which Jarrod and Elaine had hoped to flag down for rescue, is brutally dispatched by another rampaging tanker. The behemoth's destruction serves only as a harbinger of doom, as it begins its ascent up the adjacent building, inexorably closing in on their precarious sanctuary.

With the windows shattered, curtains blown out, and no respite from the relentless onslaught, Oliver concedes the futility of resistance. He sets the gas stove ablaze, allowing the accumulated fuel to ignite. As the tanker alien closes in, intent on claiming its next victim, Oliver flicks a lighter and unleashes a fiery reckoning that incinerates both himself and the monstrous intruder.

As Jarrod and Elaine behold the infernal spectacle from their rooftop vantage point, they are left with no illusions - the aliens' unstoppable juggernaut has rendered all hope futile. The darkness closes in, as the pair realizes they must confront an unyielding force that will not be vanquished.

As Jarrod and Elaine attempt to flee from the rooftop, a grotesque squid-like alien suddenly materializes in their path, blocking their escape route with an unholy fusion of tentacles and fire door. The unyielding Jarrod (Jarrod) valiantly attempts to fend off the extraterrestrial menace with a trusty fire axe, while Elaine makes a desperate bid for freedom.

When Jarrod's valiant efforts result in the severing of one of the squid's tentacles, the creature displays an unsettling ability to reattach the limb, only to counterattack by impaling Jarrod's right leg and attempting to ensnare his brain. As the hapless protagonist writhes in agony on the rooftop, Elaine seizes the axe and delivers a brutal blow to the alien's cranium, temporarily disabling its cognitive functions.

However, this gruesome creature refuses to succumb to death, and it turns its attention toward Elaine as Jarrod takes advantage of the distraction to deliver a fatal blow with a cinder block, followed by a slow-motion dissection of the squid's brain matter. As the pair surveys the desolate rooftop landscape, they're confronted by an array of deadly extraterrestrial threats: flying drones, squid-like aliens, and hulking tanker creatures.

Their quest for safety drives them to ascend higher into the structure, only to encounter a charred, mangled tanker alien – a reminder of their previous battles. Just as all hope seems lost, an F-22 fighter jet, crippled by an airborne drone, crashes into the tanker, neutralizing the threat and leaving Jarrod and Elaine shaken but alive on the helipad.

As they gaze up at the hovering alien spaceship, now fully repaired, they're met with an unsettling sight: a massive armada of vessels releasing blue lights, vacuuming up the last remaining survivors in the city. Realizing the futility of their resistance, exhausted and demoralized by the devastating defeat of humanity's military might, Jarrod (Jarrod) and Elaine surrender to their fate.

In a poignant moment of desperation, they share a final, futile kiss as the ship's blue lights envelop them, and they're drawn into its abyssal void.

As the world succumbs to an otherworldly invasion, a grim montage unfolds, showcasing metropolitan metropolises in ruinous disarray, beset by extraterrestrial vessels. The once-thriving cities of New York, London, Hong Kong, and Los Angeles now lie in shambles, leaving humanity on the brink of extinction. It becomes starkly evident that the alien forces have emerged triumphant, with no apparent means to stem their relentless assault.

The narrative then shifts to Day 3, as Elaine (character A) awakens within the confines of an alien spacecraft, her body smeared in a dark, tar-like substance. The chamber is replete with deceased humans and tentacles, their lifeless forms strewn about like macabre playthings. As Elaine navigates through the carnage, she's beset by the gruesome reality that the tentacled machines are draining the brains of the fallen individuals, dispatching the desecrated bodies into a dark pool below.

Her search for Jarrod (character B) is marked by desperation and despair, only to be brutally thwarted when his brain is extracted from his skull. Elaine's distress is palpable as she's confronted with the possibility of sharing her own fate. However, just as the tentacled machine prepares to claim her brain, it detects Elaine's pregnancy and hesitates, instead drawing her into a larger tube.

The extracted brains are transported to a realm where new, sloth-like creatures are born, their very existence dependent on the infusion of human consciousness. The majority of brains arrive bearing a blue-green hue, but one anomalous specimen arrives with an orange-red coloration – an unmistakable sign that this is Jarrod's brain. As it's absorbed by the alien entity, the latter convulses and becomes overtaken by Jarrod's consciousness, unleashing a rampage as it seeks to free itself from its extraterrestrial prison.

Meanwhile, Elaine finds herself in a new chamber, surrounded by other pregnant women who are subjected to unspeakable terror at the hands of grasping tentacles. However, just as all hope seems lost, Jarrod-alien bursts forth from the walls, battling off the offending appendages and rescuing his beloved Elaine. As he cradles her in his newly formed, three-fingered hand, Elaine's heart beats rapidly with recognition – she has found her husband among the alien hordes.

As the camera pans out, Jarrod-alien stands triumphant, shielding Elaine and their unborn child from the encroaching tentacles. With an unyielding determination, he hoists Elaine into his arms, preparing to face whatever dangers lie ahead. The screen fades to black as the credits roll, leaving viewers on the precipice of a cliffhanger, eager for resolution in the next installment.