A haunting mystery rooted in one of America’s most notorious UFO sightings is headed to the big screen. Blue Harbor Entertainment will release Star People, the sci-fi thriller from writer-director Adam Finberg, in theaters this Friday, July 25, followed by a VOD release on August 12.
Finberg’s narrative feature directorial debut is inspired by the real-life mass sighting known as the Phoenix Lights. The film follows a driven photographer, played by actor and recording artist Kat Cunning (On Swift Horses, The Deuce), who receives a tip that may finally explain the alien encounter they witnessed as a child. But as a suffocating heatwave grips the area, their search for the truth is complicated by ominous guests and rising danger.
Joining Cunning in the ensemble cast are McCabe Slye (Destroyer, Fear Street trilogy), Connor Paolo (The Last Stop in Yuma County, Revenge, Gossip Girl), Eddie Martinez (The Sinner, Night Swim), Bradley Fisher (Westworld), and Adriana Aluna Martinez (Duster).
Ahead of the film’s release, CinemaChords’ Howard Gorman and Ashley Northey sat down with Finberg to discuss one of the most perplexing unresolved events in modern history. He spoke about growing up under the shadow of the Phoenix Lights and how that experience shaped not just his personal perspective, but also the specific social commentary lens through which he approached the film. Finberg also shared why he was more intrigued by the phenomenon’s unexplainable nature than by conventional “UFO as spacecraft” narratives—and how he set out to portray something that defies easy visual or conceptual categorization.
