“Down to earth” is both a coming-of-age film and an alien invasion film. These two themes are not as worlds apart as we might think, because puberty, adolescence, coming -of-age is a sort of alien invasion. There are changes, alien things grow, alien feelings develop, childhood is a distant planet that we can’t go back to and adulthood is an alien planet that we crash-land into. Down to Earth “harkens back to the innocence, imaginative fancy and charm of classic 1980s films like “E.T.”…which capture the restless aimlessness of childhood and the thirst for adventure that aims to fill the empty hours.”

Here’s a look at Down to Earth through the 4Fs - Friend, Fear, Foe, Flaw:

The main character is Alex and his friend is Eddie who is “loyal but also a bit of a doofus”. Alex has a crush on Stacey but alas, Stacey regards Alex as only a friend and a neighbour. In this way, we could say that Stacey is Alex’s foe: Alex wants to get romantically involved with Stacey, but who is standing in the way of this? Stacey herself!

Alex fears being rejected by Stacey and his flaw is that he is not courageous enough to tell Stacey how he feels.
A meteorite crashes on the outskirts of their small town. It could be argued that this meteorite becomes Alex’s “friend” because it eventually helps Alex achieve his goal.

Watching the interaction and conversation between Alex and Eddie, I got the feeling that if there was a sequel, there would be a love triangle, with Eddie becoming the new foe. The relationship between Alex and Eddie changes when Stacey comes into the picture. Eddie becomes alienated. Like an alien crash-landing into their boys-only planet, Stacey changes the dynamics of their friendship.

“’Cause she’s so high
High above me
She’s so lovely…
Like Cleopatra
Joan of Arc
Or Aphrodite”
- "She's so high" by Tal Bachman