Xeno [Movie Review]

Xeno [Movie Review] | I stumbled onto the movie by accident and pressed play with no expectations and no promises.

Would it win me over?

SYNOPSIS

Xeno (2025) Trivia

• Starring: Lulu Wilson, Omari Hardwick & Paul Schneider
• Director: Matthew Loren Oates
• Producer: Kevin Hart, Jesse Jensen, Luke Kelly-Clyne, Shana Marie, Matthew Loren Oates, Bryan Smiley & Rameez Khan
• Production Company: Hartbeat Productions
• Distributed by: Blue Fox Entertainment
• Release date: September 19, 2025
• Running time: 103 minutes
• Rating: MA
• Country: United States
• Language: English
• IMDb: 5.1/ 10
• Tomatometer: 88%
• Metascore: NA 
• Croak was brought to life mostly through practical effects and puppetry, with very little CGI.

Something falls from the sky and crashes in the New Mexico desert. A hunter goes looking for it and never comes.

Renee is fifteen and lives with her grieving mother, Linda, whose life stalled after her husband’s death. Linda now has a boyfriend, Chase, a violent, selfish man who fills the house with dread instead of comfort. Renee keeps to herself, finding solace in cold-blooded creatures as her pets - reptiles and arachnids that ask for nothing and offer no lies. 

After another dinner table confrontation with Chase, Renee escapes into the desert and stumbles upon the crash site. Tangled in twisted metal and green fluid (appears to be blood) is the alien itself, wounded, frightened and barely alive. She decides to free it and both run for their lives.

The next time she returns, Renee is armed with stolen equipment and a revolver she should never have touched; she finds the creature again. This time, it is caught in a brutal jaw trap. She frees it once more. Somehow, both find solace and peace in each other. She names it Croak.

Hidden in the basement, Croak becomes Renee’s secret. Until Gil, a classmate with a quiet crush and a borrowed video camera, discovers the truth. He promises to stay silent. CIA agents are already watching, already listening, already closing in.

Chase turns his rage on Renee. Croak responds instinctively, shattering walls that the whole house thinks is an earthquake. 

When Croak kills Chase to save her, Renee recoils. Croak actually cares and understands.

The CIA sets a trap, using Renee as bait, breaking her body to control the creature that feels her pain. 

Will Croak come back and save Renee, neglecting its own life and safety?

MY REVIEW

What I Like:  

• I was pleasantly surprised by the movie - the emotional depth, the plot and the cast. 

What I Don't Like:

• Tends to be a bit draggy  

Will I Watch It Again: Sure, I would.

Overall: 4.0/ 5.0

The pictures are taken from multiple sources on the Internet. Thank you.

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