UFOria – Review

Sheldon Bart (Ward) cruises along through the desert in his convertible, foot on the dash, beer in his hand, and belting out a country song along with the radio. He’s the kinda guy who can’t get enough of himself and probably loves the smell of his own farts. As he stops for fuel, he breaks into the condom machine in the bathroom to steal the change and uses it to pay for his gas before zooming off. What a guy.

After more sleazy antics at a grocery store, he goes to check out and meets Arlene Stewart (Williams) and buys some cans of Budweiser. Next up, he pulls over by a road sign for Brother Bud’s “Why Not Salvation” Crusade. Hey, free admission, too. Bud (Stanton) and Sheldon go way back, and are happy to reconnect.

The men have a wild and storied past, despite Bud now moving into the religious world. As he preaches to a tent full of hell fearing listeners, it’s hard to know where things are going with these main characters. Maybe some faith healing? This certainly fills the coffers.

As Sheldon, Arlene and Bud continue to interact, their lives intertwine further and religion, miracles and UFOs come to the forefront of their daily small-town habits. How will they reconcile with all of that?!

UFOria co-mingles some interesting themes with faith, love, cults, stolen cars, songs and aliens. It is mostly a goofy time and doesn’t take itself too seriously, which is probably for the best.

The script is short and sweet, zipping right along and focusing on just a few characters. They are developed well enough for a comedic film and the actors get to spout off some funny liens and dip into some silly situations. The main trio does a great job with the characters and the writer/director keeps a fun atmosphere. Despite the different topics at hand, it is strangely cohesive. It is a strange time, but a good one.

"One time on acid, I was my own mother."

This film remained completed for years before finally receiving some kind of theatrical release.

It’s hard to compare this to many other films, but a few below have like themes or qualities... There was also no trailer on YouTube.