Indigo

The Kwong brothers debut in English with a new agey sci-fi thriller that tosses a bewildering flurry of high concepts into an outlandish but rollicking adventure. Ella Summer, reporter for a tabloid that investigates UFOs and urban legends, is hiding quirks that could land her in the pages of her own paper, such as her ability to talk to trees. When she pries into the death of her former professor, who used to peddle alternate theories of evolution, she uncovers evidence of a conspiracy involving rival alien invaders. The plot incorporates enough paranormal paranoia to power a season of The X-Files: lizard people, men in black, indigo children, aliens gathering on the dark side of the moon, and characters casually dropping knowledge like, “humans store the information of all interstellar races within their D.N.A. coding.” Even when things get weird(er)—for example, when Ella scores a ride from two celestial mechanics in mascot costumes—the proceedings look stunning, thanks to artist Chi-Kit Kwong’s organic lines, funky textures, and lively character art reminiscent of seinen manga artists like Naoki Urasawa. The story may be too far-out for some, but those who can get into the groove will have a blast. (May)