District 9 (2009)

‘District 9’ is an amazing film playing on the genre of a sci-fi movie, however has a concept of family and doing whatever is possible to find a better place for you and the people you care about.

Thirty years ago, aliens arrive on Earth, but not to conquer or give aid, but to find refuge from their dying planet. Separated from humans in a South African area called District 9, the aliens are managed by Multi-National United, which is unconcerned with the aliens' welfare but will do anything to master their advanced technology. When a company field agent (Sharlto Copley) contracts a mysterious virus that begins to alter his DNA, there is only one place he can hide: District 9.

This film is amazing in the way that it breaks traditional notions about sci-fi films including aliens. Usually when a sci-fi movie include aliens it will most likely be about them trying to conquer the earth, but this film doesn’t do that, instead it gives the aliens a more humane aspect by representing them as refugees, who need a place to live away from their dyeing planet, who are in need of help. It is a rare instance in which the audience can feel sympathy for an alien species. This slim introduce ‘sub genre’ such as the concept of family and loved ones, about wanting to return home and be with the ones you love, an example would be that throughout the entire film, an alien and his child are challenged against the odds to be able to leave earth, in my mind the reason for this as to be able to save his son from the dangerous of the earth and humans. After much thought I realized the film shows a very accurate description about how society treats those who are misunderstood or different, treating them like animals by studying them or locking them away from the public, like a side thought, not to be seen or heard.

It is not difficult to see how District 9 is an allegory, to say that it represents something else, meaning the issue of segregation, which is not surprising due to the history of the director, Neill Blomkamp, who grew up in South Africa during the apartheid era, which was a system of institutionalized racial segregation that existed in South Africa from 1948 until the early 1990s. Knowing this it easy to see how we can tie the film with this moment in history by simply looking at the aliens as black Americans and the humans as the white people enforcing the laws to oppress them of their rights.

With all the detail, special effects and makeup used in the movie it is no wonder that the films budget was 30 million USD, however this was a mere morsel in contrast of the box office which was 210.8 million USD. After watching the film and reviewing it in detail it not hard to see how the film won the Ray Bradbury Award and Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Makeup. If you are a person that enjoys sci-fi movies that challenge the traditional notions of their genre and atmosphere of the importance of family, then this is the film for you.