The Thing (2011)
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A team of scientists at a remote Antarctic station must confront a parasitic alien that can mimic its victims.
The story
In the winter of 1982, members of the Norwegian research station 'Thule' discover an alien spacecraft and a nearby alien body buried in the Antarctic ice. Dr. Sander Halvorson and his assistant Adam Finch recruit American paleontologist Kate Lloyd to investigate. Together with pilots Sam Carter, Derek Jameson, and crewman Griggs, they fly to Thule Station and meet station chief Edvard Wolner, along with his team. The body, encased in a block of ice, is transported to Thule Station. While the team celebrates their historic find, the reality of the threat begins to surface as they realize the alien is still alive and capable of hiding among them.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In 1982, a Norwegian research team at Thule Station discovers an alien body and spacecraft in the Antarctic ice. They are joined by American paleontologist Kate Lloyd and a flight crew. After the alien is unearthed, it begins to assimilate and mimic the team members. The group realizes the creature can hide in plain sight, leading to a state of paranoia. After several members are transformed or killed, the survivors attempt to isolate the threat. A test involving dental fillings reveals who is potentially infected. During a chaotic confrontation, several members are killed or transformed, including the station chief. Kate and the remaining crew members eventually face off against the various forms of the creature. In the final confrontation, Kate faces the transformed Sander-Thing in the spacecraft and eventually identifies the pilot, Carter, as the alien. She destroys the Carter-Thing before it can escape. The film ends with a new pilot arriving at the station, where the survivor Lars discovers the truth about the remaining 'things' and the fact that the dog is also an alien.
- First release year
- 2011
- Runtime (minutes)
- 103
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English; Norwegian
- Directors
- Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.
- Writers
- Eric Heisserer · writer
- Cast and characters
- Mary Elizabeth Winstead · Kate Lloyd; Joel Edgerton · Sam Carter; Ulrich Thomsen · Dr. Sander Halvorson; Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje · Derek Jameson; Eric Christian Olsen · Adam Finch; Trond Espen Seim · Edvard Wolner; Kim Bubbs · Juliette; Jørgen Langhelle · Lars
- Genres
- science fiction; horror
- Themes
- paranoia; distrust; isolation
- Tone and mood
- tense; suspenseful
- Premise and plot tags
- prequel; alien invasion; body horror; monster
- Source material / true-story basis
- Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell
- Franchise connections
- The Thing
- Reception
- The film was a box-office bomb and received mixed reviews from critics.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 34% · scale: percentage · review count: 171; Metacritic · score: 49 · scale: 100 · review count: 31
- Production trivia
- The film was originally intended to have a different ending where the protagonist finds the original pilots of the spaceship.; The director used a laptop with 'a million' screen captures of the 1982 film as a reference during filming.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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