The presence of Richard Gere in this paranormal thriller (based on "true" events) may suggest a rather mainstream approach to the material. Yet this eerie and engrossing movie is far from conventional, combining off-kilter camerawork and spooky sound mixing with enough narrative ambiguity to fill several David Lynch movies. Gere plays a political reporter who one night inexplicably drives hundreds of miles out of his way to a small West Virginia town. He discovers that the confused inhabitants - including Laura Linney and Will Patton - are plagued by strange visitations from a large winged creature that seem to foreshadow disaster. Gere's attempts to connect these surreal events with a personal tragedy form the emotional backbone of the story, while the now familiar X Files-like encounters are composed with flair and imagination by director Mark Pellington (Arlington Road). Although many questions are ultimately left unanswered, this is a well-crafted and grown-up chiller with a stunning climactic payoff.