John Paul Ungaretti’s directorial debut film, Unexpected Treasures, which screened at San Diego Comic-Con this year, is now available for streaming via Apple TV and Amazon Prime. As someone who grew up with E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Explorers (1985), and Flight of the Navigator (1986), the question of whether there could be other life out there sometimes crosses my mind.
Hartley, Olivia Blue, finds herself at a directionless point in her life. While driving down the road she gets a flat tire and Sam, Mike Manning, appears and offers to assist with changing the tire in exchange for a ride. What he doesn’t disclose is that he is being chased by “The Bad Guy”, Jay Whittaker, an intergalactic bounty hunter. That’s right, Sam is from another planet, and he wants to go home. We follow along on the journey as other locals in the Joshua Desert help with the challenge.
Two themes are competing instead of working together in this film. You have the Sci-Fi alien on earth, and then you have a young woman trying to cope with her grandmother’s passing and her mother’s re-entry into her life. Then there is a hint of a possible romance thread. If just one of those two themes had been given complete focus, then maybe the romance piece would have worked better.
For a lazy weekend at home, this one was a light watch to have on while cleaning in the room, doing laundry, or tackling other adult tasks we occasionally need to do.
Director: John Paul Ungaretti
Cast: Mike Manning, Olivia Blue, Michael Dunn
Selig Rating: 2.8 stars
Runtime: 1h 35m
Streaming Release Date: September 19, 2025
Genre(s): Sci-Fi
Movie Site: Unexpected Treasures website
Trailer: Unexpected Treasures trailer
The Selig Rating Scale:
5 Stars – Excellent movie/show, well worth the time and price.
4 Stars – Good movie/show
3 Stars – OK movie/show
2 Stars – Well, there was nothing else…
1 Star – Total waste of time.