Steven Mills (Dan Aykroyd) is an astrophysicist at SETI who is a little too excited about this job. One night, to complete an experiment, he overloads and destroys a piece of expensive equipment which results in his boss firing him even though the experiment was a success. He returns home dejected to his daughter, Jessie (Alyson Hannigan), before both head to a party held by his brother. Alien agent Celeste (Kim Basinger) crashes the party in increasingly bizarre ways, attempting to seduce the widower Steven to gain his scientific knowledge.
The two go home together, but not before Jessie sees Celeste create a dress just by putting a magazine in her Bag (Ann Prentiss). Realizing they’ve been observed, Bag and Celeste have differing opinions on how to deal with the situation: Celeste falls genuinely for both Steven and his daughter while Bag asserts that interfering humans must be destroyed for the sake of the mission. This conflict expands and changes as the film continues, eventually leading My Stepmother is an Alien to its final climax.
Bizarre barely begins to describe this corny nostalgia romp. From Celeste reciting Looney Tunes and the Popeye theme song in her initial attempt at seducing Steven to the sentient bag she carries to the fairly intense focus on sexuality, this is a movie people either love or hate. There is some interesting camera work here and there, such as the zero-gee stocking shot near the beginning of the film, but the set dressing and design feel like Tim Burton on Valium. For the most part, the acting was somewhat uninspired. Celeste really held the film together with her bizarre attempts to appear human—the real source of the film’s comedy.
Casting Aykroyd as the straight man in an alien comedy seemed short-sighted given his prior experience as Beldar in the classic SNL Coneheads sketches. The focus on sexuality seems misplaced, feeling more like a teenager’s fantasy than an alien experiencing human sexuality for the first time. All this being said, it was still very entertaining for the most part. The sci-fi elements could have been stronger, but the comedic ones were often well crafted and quite funny. If you are looking for more 80s/90s nostalgia to sate your patron’s tastes, My Stepmother is an Alien would be a strong optional purchase for your public library.
Discover more titles with our list of comedy movies.