District 9

An unmistakably 2000’s film, Neill Blomkamp’s debut is an apartheid story disguised as a science-fiction thriller. Beneath the mech suits and crazy guns and cars (amongst other things) blowing up lies a story about empathy and human (or in this case, alien) rights. Set 20 years after a spaceship carrying a horde of aliens arrives over Johannesburg, District 9 places us smack dab in the middle of a society that treats the aliens as second-rate citizens, living in segregated quarters, exploited by the authorities and having to resort to crime to make a living. Sound familiar? Troubles begin to brew up when the government starts a mass relocation program to move the aliens to the outskirts of the city. District 9 shows some of the best that 2000’s sci-fi had to offer, from a grimy look and frenetic action to the designs of the aliens and their technology, whilst telling a wholly human and forever-relevant story.

Anant Nambiar

Twenty years ago, a gigantic space-ship carrying a group of lost and stranded aliens appeared in the sky above Johannesburg. The aliens were granted asylum on Earth. Fast-forward 20 years and the ‘prawns’, as the locals call them, have been herded into a government camp called District 9 that is rapidly becoming a ghetto. A private military outfit is contracted to clear up the camp and move the aliens to a new settlement in the wilderness. Their leader, Wikus (Copley) is raiding the camp when he finds a strange canister and accidentally spills some liquid on to himself. That night, he is forced to go to hospital when he discovers his left arm has mutated into that of an alien...

District 9 was one of the sleeper hits of 2009, and it’s easy to see why. Director Neill Blomkamp was given $30m and told to make whatever he liked, and the film looks and feels even better than a Hollywood sci-fi extravaganza made on many times the budget. Shot in mock-documentary style, with interviews and CCTV footage, you can’t help but be completely engrossed as Wikus turns to the aliens for help and learns to work against his former employers and their plans.

There’s no way to avoid comparing the plight of the aliens with the Apartheid era in South Africa, and Blomkamp has said that he was partially inspired by the days of District Six and racial hatred. If anything, this gives District 9 an extra edge, a more intelligent and thought-provoking flavour than anything Hollywood has produced recently. Truly one of the most interesting and thrilling films of the last few years, District 9 is definitely worth a watch.

Marcus Kelly