The X-Files (1998)
12-month trend
12-month trend
Monthly article views
2025-09 to 2026-08
FBI agents Mulder and Scully must navigate a conspiracy to uncover the truth about an alien colonization of Earth.
The story
Following the events of the television series, FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully are removed from their usual duties on the X-Files. They are tasked with investigating the bombing of a building and the subsequent destruction of criminal evidence. As they delve deeper into the investigation, they uncover a massive government conspiracy designed to conceal the truth regarding an alien colonization of Earth. The film expands the show's mythology on a larger scale, forcing the agents to confront high-stakes secrets that threaten the safety of the world.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
The film begins in 35,000 B.C. where cavemen encounter an extraterrestrial life form that infects one with a black oil-like substance. In 1998, a boy and several firefighters are exposed to this substance in Texas after a bombing. Mulder and Scully investigate the site and discover the truth about the 'victims' and the alien virus. They eventually track the source to a facility in Antarctica. After Mulder rescues Scully from a containment unit, he uses a vaccine to cure her, causing an alien vessel to emerge and flee into the sky. The film concludes with Scully and Mulder continuing their work together, while the Smoking Man reveals the X-files unit has been reopened.
- Original title
- The X-Files: Fight the Future
- First release year
- 1998
- Runtime (minutes)
- 122
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Rob Bowman
- Writers
- Chris Carter · screenplay; Chris Carter · story; Frank Spotnitz · story
- Cast and characters
- David Duchovny · Fox Mulder; Gillian Anderson · Dana Scully; Martin Landau · Alvin Kurtzweil; Blythe Danner · Jana Cassidy; Armin Mueller-Stahl · Conrad Strughold; Mitch Pileggi · Walter Skinner; William B. Davis · Cigarette-Smoking Man; John Neville · Well-Manicured Man
- Genres
- science fiction; thriller
- Themes
- government conspiracy; extraterrestrial life
- Tone and mood
- dark; scary; oppressive
- Setting
- Texas, Antarctica, and Tunisia in 1998 and 35,000 B.C.
- Premise and plot tags
- investigation; conspiracy; alien_invasion
- Source material / true-story basis
- Chris Carter's television series of the same name
- Franchise connections
- The X-Files
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews from critics but was a box office success.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 66% · scale: percentage · review count: 73; Metacritic · score: 60 · scale: 100 · review count: 23
- Production trivia
- The film was promoted with the tagline 'Fight the Future'.; The script was printed on red paper to prevent photocopying.; The film was produced under the codename 'Project Blackwood'.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
Your lists
Loading your lists…