From Luton Today: 

The real surprise is that the blossoming relationship between shy pubescent Joe (Joel Courtney) and the classmate he fancies (Elle Fanning) should prove more dramatically compelling than the tale’s effects-driven sci-fi aspects.

It’s a real pleasure in an age of relentlessly spectacular, often emotionally vacant, blockbusters to see a big movie that has genuine feeling for characters touchingly poised on the cusp of adulthood.