Super 8 (2011)
12-month trend
12-month trend
Monthly article views
2025-09 to 2026-08
A group of teenagers filming a movie witness a mysterious train derailment that uncovers a hidden extraterrestrial threat.
The story
Set in 1979, the film follows a group of young teenagers who witness a mysterious train derailment while filming their own Super 8 movie and strange occurrences unfold in their small Ohio town. Following the derailment, the teenagers find crates of strange white cubes and are confronted by a local teacher who warns them to forget what they saw. As the town experiences escalating anomalies like missing people and power fluctuations, the teenagers must navigate the growing tension between the local authorities and the mysterious events unfolding in their community.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In 1979, Deputy Jack Lamb and his son Joe mourn the death of Jack's wife. Four months later, Joe and his friends—including Alice, the daughter of a man Jack blames for the accident—are filming a movie at a train depot. A truck strikes the train, causing a derailment. The teens find white cubes and are warned by their teacher, Dr. Woodward, to forget what they saw. However, the town begins experiencing strange occurrences as a military unit led by Colonel Nelec arrives to contain the situation. The teens eventually discover that Dr. Woodward was a former government researcher who had a connection with an alien that had been captured in 1963. The alien, which can shape-shift using the white cubes, escapes and begins a rampage. The teens and the adults eventually join forces to find Alice, who has been abducted by the creature. They discover a hidden underground facility where the alien is preparing to leave Earth. In a final confrontation, the alien is confronted by the teens. After a moment of connection, the alien allows the teens to escape and departs for space in a ship formed by the white cubes.
- First release year
- 2011
- Runtime (minutes)
- 112
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- J. J. Abrams
- Writers
- J. J. Abrams · writer
- Cast and characters
- Kyle Chandler · Deputy Jack Lamb; Elle Fanning · Alice; Joel Courtney · Joseph "Joe" Francis Lamb; Gabriel Basso · Martin Read; Noah Emmerich · Colonel Nelec; Ron Eldard · Louis Dainard; Riley Griffiths · Charles Kaznyk; Ryan Lee · Cary McCarthy; Zach Mills · Preston Scott
- Genres
- science fiction; thriller
- Themes
- coming of age; extraterrestrial life; grief; government conspiracy
- Tone and mood
- nostalgic; tense
- Premise and plot tags
- sci-fi; thriller; mystery
- Reception
- The film received positive reviews from critics and was a box office success, gross of over $260 million worldwide.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 81% · scale: percentage · review count: 296; Metacritic · score: 72 · scale: 100 · review count: 41
- Awards and nominations
- Saturn Award · Best Music · 2012 · won
- Production trivia
- The film was inspired by a combination of two ideas: one about kids making a movie in the 1970s and another about a large-scale alien invasion.; The film was the first original J. J. Abrams project produced by Amblin Entertainment, Bad Robot, and Paramount Pictures.; A video game segment was created by Valve Corporation and included in some versions of Portal 2.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
Your lists
Loading your lists…