“Save Yourselves!”and the similarly named “No One Will Save You”present contrasting perspectives on the theme of alien invasions. One narrative showcases a couple ready to confront extraterrestrial threats, while the other depicts a vastly unprepared duo.
Were there any survivors?
“Save Yourselves!”leads us into the lives of a millennial couple living in New York, who find themselves struggling with a different type of addiction: their smartphones. When they’re not busy cultivating their sourdough starter, this couple spends their days side by side on the couch, engrossed in mindless scrolling. Their relationship takes a turn when notifications disrupt their intimate moment, prompting them to disconnect from their devices entirely during a week-long retreat at a secluded cabin in upstate New York.
But then, the aliens strike.
Though “strike” may not be the most accurate description. The aliens in this scenario are rather benign; they manifest as fluffy, orb-like entities that Su, one half of the couple, affectionately dubs “pouffes.” Meanwhile, Jack discovers that their sourdough starter and their whiskey have vanished. The duo quickly deduces that these pouffes are an alien race that feeds on alcohol, eliminating any humans who pose a threat. To add to their woes, their phones are rendered useless.
And that’s when chaos ensues.
With the aliens closing in, Jack and Su flee for their lives, joining a chaotic flight of New York hipsters who are equally untrained in survival tactics. The extraterrestrials, with their harmless appearances coupled with deadly probing appendages, quickly decimate the scattered survivors. Jack narrowly escapes a lethal encounter, thanks to his smartphone, which deflected the alien’s attack. With no time to lose, Su and Jack, along with an orphaned baby they come across, race through the woods until they encounter a bizarre, towering alien structure. This otherworldly technology miraculously recharges their phones, leading the jubilant couple to believe they have found salvation. However, the structure morphs, trapping them in a soundproof bubble before transporting them into space, where they see other humans ensnared in similar fates. “Are we saved?” Jack questions, as the bubbles drift into the cosmos, presumably heading toward a grim fate at the hands of their captors. So, are they really saved? The ending is shrouded in ambiguity. Personally, I lean toward the idea that they are not. The film appears to suggest that our growing reliance on technology diminishes our chances of surviving crises. The aliens seem to have anticipated this dependency from the very beginning of their invasion playbook.