Aussie-made Netflix film explores price of nostalgia

Detailed summary

From the studio behind Bluey comes a Queensland-made film about the chaos that erupts when an alien returns to a beachside town.

Nostalgia is a hell of a drug, and it's one the new Netflix film Allen explores to amusing and poignant effect.

The movie centres on Petey (T.J. Power), a man stuck in a state of arrested development who is still holding on to memories of the alien friend he made as a child.

For creator Daley Pearson, the pull of nostalgia is about more than the toys, games and other reminders of childhood - it's about the people and memories attached to them.

"I don't think you just care about Jenga. I think you remember playing that with your family and friends, and some of them may be here or gone," Pearson said.

"You're thinking about a past that doesn't exist anymore, and this stuff is your port key to remembering or experiencing that again."

But Pearson said the things that remind us of the past can also act as "anchors".

Produced by Pearson’s award-winning Ludo Studio, the production company behind Bluey, Allen is it’s first live-action feature.

"We wanted to do a character who was trying to hold wonder and responsibility in equal measure," Pearson said.

In Allen, Petey is a child growing up in the small Sunshine Coast town of Coolum Beach when he befriends an adorable extraterrestrial he names Allen.

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