A rabbit-eared alien named Allen is the star of Ludo Studio's first feature film. ( Supplied: Netflix )
From The Muppet's 50th anniversary to Project Hail Mary's scene-stealing Rocky , 2026 has been a great year for weird, little puppets.
Now there's a new goggle-eyed friend on the block, courtesy of director Daley Pearson's (Talk To Me, The Strange Calls) debut feature film, Allen.
The titular goofy guy is a big-eared, short-statured alien who befriends Petey (Edward A O'Sullivan), a regular rough-and-tumble 10-year-old. Designed by award-winning creature wizard Steve Boyle (The Matrix, Anaconda), Allen was brought to life through a combination of traditional puppetry and digital effects.
"We knew we wanted Allan to be something a 10-year-old would pick up," Pearson says.
"Whereas something like E.T., the idea was that he's a little bit frightening, but you grow to love him. We sort of knew, knew we needed you to love Allan straight away."
Pearson has experience with lovable creatures as the co-founder of Ludo Studios, the Queensland studio behind Bluey. But Allen the alien isn't all he seems, and the movie goes places a family of talking sheepdogs could never.
"We also knew he needed to be very cute and appealing because the sort of midpoint, where the story takes Allen and the things he does, you need to keep loving him," Pearson says
"I always had a dream that Allen would come from the ocean, so we based him on amphibious things. But he also has a bit of a baby hippo feel to him."
The cast of Allen with Daley Pearson (centre) and Jeffery Walker (far left) at the film's Australian premiere in Brisbane. ( Supplied: Netflix )
When we meet adult Petey (T.J. Power) 20 years later, he's pushing 30, working at the local shop, living in his sibling's basement and spending all his free time watching old home videos and monitoring radio waves for any sign that Allen is out there.
When the squishy alien does eventually return, Petey is pushed to the limit over how much of his adult life he's willing to surrender to fulfil his 10-year-old dreams.
Young Petey and Allen forge a strong connection when the 10-year-old comes across the strange alien. ( Supplied: Netflix )
Filmed entirely across south-east Queensland, Allen delves into nostalgia, ambition and arrested development. Writing and directing Allen was a surreal privilege for Pearson, who was doing similar hijinks as Petey when he was young (minus the close encounter).
"I used to make stuff with my dad's camera, like in this movie. I would film my Ninja Turtle toys and try to make that scene with that part of the soundtrack happen," he says.
"When I swapped to that other side of the fence from watching stuff [to making stuff], I lost a bit of playfulness with the pressure. I would try to sort of explain to [my 10-year-old self] how lucky he is. I think he might try to tell me to be a bit more playful."
"Which is what the film is about. You think you want this thing, but it's a myth you built up in your head. When you actually get it, there are always some strings attached."
Many of Allen's beachside scenes were filmed in Coolum Beach on the Sunshine Coast, where Pearson grew up. ( Supplied: Netflix )
Allen represents a new experiment for Ludo Studios, which produced mostly episodic projects like Dylan River's 2024 series Thou Shalt Not Steal, 2019's Content — Australia's first-ever vertical video series — and Bluey, which in 2025 retained the crown of most-watched show in Australia and the United States.
Ludo is a true Queensland success story, and Pearson doesn't take any of it for granted.
"It's the luckiest thing ever being associated with a project like Bluey or Talk To Me from the Rakkas, even the Team Thor stuff ," he says.
"I think just in terms of career, momentum creates momentum and being able to create propels you to make more stuff."
Throughout all of Ludo's work lies a fierce commitment to telling Australian stories in a way that is recognisably Aussie without falling into stereotype or parody.
"I think it's a little like being left-handed. We just sort of are what we are. I'm Australian, and I grew up here, I love the stuff that these characters love, and I've experienced similar stuff to these characters," Pearson says.
The Ludo team wanted Allen to look mostly amphibious with a little hippo thrown in. ( Supplied: Netflix )
"It's why we started Ludo; we hope we can contribute to a culture of talented people passing on how they did their thing … so more Australians are able to execute on the craft of making stories."
Ultimately, Pearson sees Allen as a blueprint of the risks local productions should be able to take.
"I hope Allen is one of the things that hacks away at the reluctance to make these sort of fairy tales, these genre stories, sci-fi, romance … I would love to see an Australian Sleepless in Seattle, things like that," he says.
"I know it's what my family, my friends and everyone around me wants to watch. We want to watch Australian stuff, and if we don't, I think those same audiences will just be scooped up by America and England."
