Allen Review
Director: Daley Pearson and Jeffrey Walker
Date Created: 2026-11-12 19:33
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Allen Review: Directed by Daley Pearson and Jeffrey Walker, the science-fiction comedy film stars T.J. Power as Petey, alongside Charlotte Nicdao as Carly, Josh Helman as Jaden, Emily Barclay as Sarah, Benedict Hardie as Rory, and Elijah Tamati as Cameron. The cast also includes Edward A. O’Sullivan, Caitlin Niemotko and others. The movie has a runtime of 1 hour and 45 minutes.
Allen Review
Netflix’s Allen centres around Petey, who, being a kid in Queensland, Australia, meets a cute alien by the name of Allen. Accompanied by his pet dog Fergus, Petey makes the acquaintance of the cute extraterrestrial, making friends with him instantly. Allen had some extraordinary capabilities – he possessed telekinetic and healing powers. Petey believed that the relationship between him and his newfound friend would be everlasting.
Eventually, Allen leaves Earth for space, creating a precious childhood memory for Petey that he never lets go of. Twenty years later, as both Jaden and Carly have moved on, Petey is eagerly waiting for his alien buddy to come back. When Allen finally returns, Petey receives the meeting of his dreams, but their relationship becomes much more than friendship.
My expectations for the Netflix film Allen were pretty basic, because from the title I was expecting a simple adventure in the sci-fi genre that would somehow bring together the sentimentality of ET with a bit of humour added. The initial situation of the movie – a friendship between Petey and Allen during childhood – is quite cliché, but I still liked the premise of how growing up is different for some people because one of them clings to his memories that have become his whole world. But the problem is that the movie moves its good concept in such a strange direction that it just makes it hard to take anything seriously.
Even though Jaden and Carly have constructed their world and gotten ready to become parents, Petey is left trapped in the past. He continues to stay in his brother’s basement, works in a convenience store even though he has the capability of inventing an interstellar communication system, and wastes his time trying to connect with a person who vanished many years ago. There is something very touching about this whole situation. Not only is his love for Allen related to the fact that he misses his dear friend, but it is also about him not being able to find a place in his new life.
This contrast was one that I actually enjoyed, since it provided Petey with an internal struggle other than the typical story about aliens arriving on Earth. Petey was so affected by the events of his childhood that he had never left any space for anything else. But unfortunately, the movie is not able to delve deeply into this struggle of Petey. It is known to us that Petey waited for twenty long years, but we would have liked to see what kind of effect his loneliness had on him.
The problem, however, is with Allen himself. As a character whose return should change the whole plot, he lacks sufficient personality that could make the relationship more attractive. It is supposed to be this cute, innocent alien who is capable of communicating by gestures and sounds only, but nothing more happens. Their friendship is supposed to be the basis of the movie from an emotional perspective, but it was hard for me to get attached to their relationship. The constant stress about how they adore each other doesn’t make their relationship convincing.
And last but not least, there’s the major plot choice of Netflix’s Allen movie, which totally transforms our view of their childhood relationship. The reason why Allen is back is much darker than Petey’s wish to reconnect with his childhood buddy. The fact that Petey is a host to some alien parasites, who will spread among mankind, surely comes as a surprise. But this is where I lose interest in the movie.
It is clear to me that the filmmakers are trying to create an innocent relationship between an alien and then use the body horror genre in the sci-fi aspect of the movie. It is not wrong to use a familiar theme in a way that makes it different and unique. In fact, this can be a good approach to debunk the blind idealisation of childhood memories. The thing that makes the matter worse is how this film deals with the whole situation. Petey’s childhood association with Allen turns out to be very violating.
The fact that Allen believes this is an act of affection only makes the situation more awkward. Petey was a kid when he met Allen, and no matter what agreement they had at the time, it definitely wasn’t informed consent to do something like this. I found it very hard to understand how the movie tried to keep some kind of emotional tie between the two after the revelation. Instead of adding complexity to their relationship in an intriguing manner, it only adds a moral dilemma for which the plot doesn’t have the answers.
The performance is quite good in the 2026 movie Allen, especially that of T.J. Power, who shoulders a lot of the emotional and humorous aspects of the movie. He manages to make Petey’s weirdness and adoration for Allen believable, despite the lack of depth provided by the screenwriters. Charlotte Nicdao and Josh Helman also manage to infuse authenticity into their portrayals of characters who have compassion for Petey but who are equally frustrated with his immaturity. However, poor character writing makes it difficult for the cast to shine.
Netflix Allen Review: Summing Up
Overall, the 2026 Allen movie has an intriguing concept hidden behind its peculiar fusion of nostalgia for childhood, alien comedy, and body horror. It’s refreshing to see that it tries something else rather than telling yet another boring story about a kid and his best alien friend. However, to be different isn’t enough when the main connection is so uneasy, and the plot fails to make sense of its own premise. In my opinion, the movie turned out to be a disappointment that could have been much better if only the story had been thought through.
