Today’s film asks, “What if aliens have been here, but have just been really low-key about it?” It doesn’t have to be a “destroy the population and milk Earth for resources” kind of thing. It doesn’t even have to be a “take me to your leader” kind of thing. What if we are just a pit stop for repairs like a garage in the middle of the desert?
Milton (Ben Kingsley) is old and lonely. He’s the kind of lonely where you show up to every city council meeting and request the town change its motto. Ironically, he’s not the only lonely one. Sandy (Harriet Sansom Harris) and Joyce (Jane Curtain) are also lonely old people who show up to spout nonsense at city council meetings. It is not nonsense to them, of course. It’s not even true nonsense; it’s more like a poorly-considered cry for attention. When families aren’t as supportive as we need them to be, we develop outlets. Milton, Sandy, and Joyce have chosen city council meetings.
The problem is that Milton’s repeated requests for a town motto change and a crosswalk
at a dangerous intersection have become so rote and easily dismissed that when he adds the part about an alien destroying his azaleas, he’s seen as senile. To be fair, it takes a certain personality to pull off the “aliens have landed” gambit and Milton ain’t ever gonna be that guy even if he’s telling the truth.
The Hobbit-sized alien has fairly human features beneath an outer layer of rubbery skin the color of skim milk. It clearly sees with human-like eyes and eats with a human-like mouth, but doesn’t say anything and instead simply absorbs information, not unlike an intelligent toddler. Milton has to nurse it back to health after the crash landing. Jules likes apples.
This is a quiet, unassuming movie. It seems like it’s about alien contact, but it’s really about dignity, grace, and loneliness. We have no idea where Jules is from, but Jules is -quite clearly- alone and in need of friendship 
and understanding just like Milton. Jules probably won’t be around forever, but maybe the being can somehow connect Milton to Sandy and Joyce.
FWIW, I’ve seen Barbie and Oppenheimer and will not discount the performances in either film. They will get acting nods and they will deserve them, and, having said such, Harriet Sansom Harris gave the first performance of 2023 that I truly, truly, truly loved. It will be a crime if this woman doesn’t receive a best supporting Oscar nomination for this performance.
On that note, I absolutely adore this film. It is an easy top-10 selection for 2023. I don’t know how many films “speak” to you, but this one did so loud and clear to me, ironically though a non-talking being. Jules is the only film I’ve seen twice this year and I made no hesitation about seeing it a second time. It’s sweet and funny and sad and a little bit insane all at the same time … and all without making any noise whatsoever. This is a must-see for almost everybody over the age of 70. It will speak to old people like few films have done before it. I see it as a Cocoon for the 21st century. Films like this always worry me a bit that they’ll lead to generation-bating, but Jules isn’t angry. This is a film entirely about the reserved and largely uncelebrated dignity of growing old.
There was once an E.T. called “Jules”
Whose spaceship ran all out of fuels
So it crash landed on Earth
And filled people with mirth
But they still restricted it from schools
Rated PG-13, 87 Minutes
Director: Marc Turtletaub
Writer: Gavin Steckler
Genre: My li’l outerspace buddy
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Grandparents
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Ageists
