The Fourth Kind (2009)
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A psychologist's search for the truth behind her patients' shared experiences of alien abduction leads her to a terrifying discovery about her own past.
The story
The film is a pseudodocumentary presenting a dramatic re-enactment of events in Nome, Alaska. Psychologist Dr. Abigail "Abbey" Tyler describes a series of events culminating in an alleged alien abduction in October 2000. After her husband's mysterious death, Abbey begins using clinical hypnotherapy on patients who share experiences of a white owl and creatures entering their homes. One patient's violent outburst leads Abbey to suspect they were victims of alien abduction. As she investigates, she discovers evidence suggesting she may have been abducted as well, leading her to seek help from a specialist in ancient languages to decode mysterious sounds.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Dr. Abigail "Abbey" Tyler recounts a series of events in Nome, Alaska, starting with the murder of her husband, Will, in August 2000. She begins hypnotizing patients who report being stalked by a white owl and visited by creatures. One patient murders his family and commits suicide, speaking the phrase "Zimabu Eter." Abbey suspects alien abduction and discovers a tape of her own home being attacked by a creature speaking Sumerian. She consults Dr. Awolowa Odusami, who confirms the language is Sumerian. Another patient, Scott, begins hovering above his bed under hypnosis while a voice orders Abbey to end the study. Sheriff August arrests Abbey, believing her responsible for Scott's paralysis. A saucer-shaped object appears, and deputies find Abbey and her son Ronnie, but her daughter Ashley is missing. During a hypnosis session to find Ashley, Abbey recalls her own abduction and is told by an alien presence that Ashley will never return. The three of them are then abducted, and Abbey wakes up in a hospital with a broken neck. The hospital reveals Will committed suicide, making her belief of his murder a delusion. In the present, Abbey admits she and her colleagues were abducted but cannot recall the details, remaining haunted by the belief that Ashley is still alive.
- First release year
- 2009
- Runtime (minutes)
- 98
- Production countries
- United States; United Kingdom
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Olatunde Osunsanmi
- Writers
- Olatunde Osunsanmi · writer; Terry Lee Robbins · story
- Cast and characters
- Milla Jovovich · Dr. Abigail "Abbey" Tyler; Elias Koteas; Corey Johnson; Will Patton; Charlotte Milchard · Abigail Tyler; Mia McKenna-Bruce; Julian Vergov; Olatunde Osunsanmi · interviewer
- Genres
- science fiction; horror; thriller
- Themes
- alien abduction; gullibility; supernatural mystery
- Tone and mood
- pseudodocumentary; tense; unsettling
- Premise and plot tags
- alien abduction; missing persons; hypnosis; pseudodocumentary
- Source material / true-story basis
- loosely inspired by a series of real missing person cases on the west coast of Alaska along the Bering Strait
- Content notes
- supernatural
- Reception
- The film received unfavorable reviews from critics but was a modest box-office success and has attained a cult following.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 34 · scale: 100 · review count: 27; CinemaScore · score: C+ · scale: A+ to F
- Production trivia
- The title is derived from J. Allen Hynek's classification of close encounters with aliens.; The film was ranked as the sixth-scariest alien film of all time in a 2024 IndieWire list.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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