district 9 movie review

Skip to main content
Keyboard shortcuts for audio player

In 'District 9,' An Apartheid Allegory (With Aliens)

Jeannette Catsoulis

Metaphorical mothership: Three decades after extraterrestrials arrive on Earth, they remain quarantined in a violent, squalid Johannesburg ghetto. The refugee aliens aren't welcome, but they're also not allowed to leave. TriStar Pictures hide caption

Director: Neill Blomkamp
Genre: Sci-Fi
Running Time: 113 minutes

Rated R: Bloody violence and pervasive language With: Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, Nathalie Boltt

(Recommended)

Watch Clips

'Aliens Arrive'

Media no longer available

'Contraband'

Filmed almost entirely on a giant South African rubbish dump, District 9 spins human trash into extraterrestrial gold. Charging through a three-day story arc with end-of-the-world intensity, its characters dare us to quibble over their unpronounceable names and unintelligible accents.

But then as their frequently-subtitled exchanges prove, words aren't really the point: When it's human against alien, we rely on our eyes much more than our ears.

Made for around $30 million — a steal at today's prices — this frenetic debut by Neill Blomkamp (a protege of Peter Jackson, who produced the film) grabs you by the eyeballs from the very first frame. Jackson's own cinematic technique may have congealed into a bloated caricature of itself, but District 9 proves he still recognizes talent.

As we learn from a brilliantly concise intro involving faux newsreels and direct-to-camera interviews with government drones or corporate mouthpieces, an alien spaceship stalled above Johannesburg 20 years earlier, its million passengers helpless and starving. Labeled "prawns" due to their love of scavenging and their disgusting-to-humans physical appearance (a hybrid of the monster from Predator and Pirates of the Caribbean 's squid-faced Davy Jones), the aliens were corralled into an area known as District 9 .

Now, however, the District has devolved into a stinking, violent ghetto, and the multinational entity in charge of it has decided to relocate the refuse-happy residents. Heading up the dangerous task of evictions is Wikus Van Der Merwe (Sharlto Copley), a dedicated bureaucrat considered expendable by his loathsome boss-cum-father-in-law.

They'd phone home if they could: "We didn't mean to land here," one alien explains. "We mean you no harm. We just want to go home." David Bloomer/TriStar Pictures hide caption

They'd phone home if they could: "We didn't mean to land here," one alien explains. "We mean you no harm. We just want to go home."

Wikus is a bit of a pill; officious and with a sneering superiority, he's unafraid of the prawns and not above threatening the removal of their insectoid offspring should they refuse to relocate. The early scenes, which follow Wikus and a harried TV news crew as they trudge from one hovel to another brandishing eviction notices, have a nerve-jangling tension spiked with dark humor.

MNU In Black? Wikus Van De Merwe (Sharlto Copley) is employed by Multi-National United (MNU), a company tasked with researching the aliens' weapon systems. David Bloomer/TriStar Pictures hide caption

MNU In Black? Wikus Van De Merwe (Sharlto Copley) is employed by Multi-National United (MNU), a company tasked with researching the aliens' weapon systems.

Seamlessly blending the natural and the unnatural, Blomkamp layers visual gags (signs warning "No Non-Human Loitering") with aural (alien conversations that sound like extreme intestinal distress) while advancing a plot rife with references to E.T. , The Fly and Alien Nation. References to apartheid are a given.

The wonder is that despite its obvious roots, District 9 feels staggeringly original. Channeling Cloverfield 's on-the-fly shooting style and Paul Verhoeven's energy and anti-corporate sensibility (there's even a cameo by what looks like RoboCop's ED-209), the movie rarely holds still. And while this restlessness has predictable consequences for character development — only Wikus feels three-dimensional — it's difficult to care. As corporate bigwigs lust after alien technology and the aliens lust after cat food (can a Fancy Feast endorsement be far behind?), District 9 gradually narrows its focus and widens its ambitions. The final struggle between alien and human will be played out not on the ground but in Wikus' bloodstream, a war zone less visible but infinitely more consequential.

Web Resources

Log in or sign up for Rotten Tomatoes

Trouble logging in?

By continuing, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes.

Email not verified

Let's keep in touch.

Sign up for the Rotten Tomatoes newsletter to get weekly updates on:

Upcoming Movies and TV shows
Rotten Tomatoes Podcast
Media News + More

By clicking "Sign Me Up," you are agreeing to receive occasional emails and communications from Fandango Media (Fandango, Vudu, and Rotten Tomatoes) and consenting to Fandango's Privacy Policy and Terms and Policies . Please allow 10 business days for your account to reflect your preferences.

OK, got it!

About Rotten Tomatoes®
Login/signup

Movies in theaters

Opening This Week
Top Box Office
Coming Soon to Theaters
Certified Fresh Movies

Movies at Home

Fandango at Home
Prime Video
Most Popular Streaming Movies
What to Watch New

Certified fresh picks

73% Blink Twice Link to Blink Twice
96% Strange Darling Link to Strange Darling
86% Between the Temples Link to Between the Temples

New TV Tonight

100% Slow Horses: Season 4
94% English Teacher: Season 1
-- The Perfect Couple: Season 1
-- Tell Me Lies: Season 2
-- Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist: Season 1
-- Wise Guy: David Chase and The Sopranos: Season 1
-- The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Season 1
-- Whose Line Is It Anyway?: Season 14

District 9 Reviews

Blomkamp doesn’t miss a step. His film is cynical, funny, smart, exciting, and satirical—all without losing his audience’s involvement in the scenario.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Sep 4, 2023

District 9 might not be a classic like Alien or ‘The Terminator’ (not many films are), but it’s still an effective sci-fi film with depth and style.

Full Review | Jun 5, 2023

Funny and ferocious, cynical and satirical, "District 9" is both ingeniously clever and reflectively thoughtful, a science fiction thriller that bubbles with social commentary.

Full Review | Apr 26, 2022

I don't think the film is the epic reevaluation of science-fiction storytelling like some people have hailed it to be. But I do think it's a solid smart sci-fi action flick that's honest to its characters

Full Review | Jan 10, 2022

One of the most creative and exciting science-fiction adventures in the last decade.

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | Nov 28, 2020

Amid the mayhem, however, it's impossible to lose sight of the film's penetrating satire on racism and xenophobia.

Full Review | Nov 23, 2020

FEELS oppressed and this oppression permeates virtually every single minute of the film's 112-minute runtime.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4.0 | Sep 6, 2020

It's a genuinely impressive debut feature and unlike the singular experience of Cloverfield's faux-reality, District 9 has narrative, plus thematic weight and visceral thrills, which elevate it above the gimmick of the reality format.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Oct 29, 2019

It is without a doubt that District 9 will be a hit.

Full Review | Oct 9, 2019

Copley is never a believable protagonist, and his transformation isn't very believable. About the only interesting cast members are the CGI aliens.

Full Review | Original Score: C+ | May 16, 2019

If someone asked me what I could offer them to convey the "mission statement" of science fiction, I would hand over a copy of District 9 without thought.

Full Review | Jan 14, 2019

Part found footage (or just footage), part mockumentary, part satire and part action; Blomkamp pulls it into a coherent, moving, violent, sci fi allegory. Copley is terrific as Wikus moving from species-ist opportunist to a genuine if gormless redemption.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 17, 2018

There are lots of great odd details filling the early scenes, suggesting we're not getting all the cultural references, that make for exciting film-watching.

Full Review | Nov 14, 2018

The only thing saving the story is an astonishingly impressive performance from Copley. His every incarnation as Wikus-first as a cheerful, if incompetent suit, then as a pathetic xenophobe, to finally a self-sacrificing warrior-rings true.

I won't tell you to rush out and see it, but in these days of sequels and remakes, this was an interesting original.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Nov 14, 2018

Neill Blomkamp has made an instant science fiction classic. From beginning to end, the thrills magnify, intensify into a horrific drama that will live for the ages.

Full Review | Jan 2, 2018

I don't know guys, at the end of the day it's aliens and hard for me to take this seriously.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Sep 12, 2017

It is a sign of intelligent filmmaking when those crafting the movie realize that less is more. Real artists show restraint.

Full Review | Aug 11, 2017

It has become almost impossible to make a sci-fi film these days that doesn't spend its last 30 minutes in a multiple-orgasm roar of screaming, shooting and shattering explosions.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 14, 2016

The wonder is that despite its obvious roots, District 9 feels staggeringly original.

Full Review | Jun 17, 2015

Supported by

Movie Review | 'District 9'

A Harsh Hello for Visitors From Space

Share full article

By A.O. Scott

Aug. 13, 2009

For decades at least since Orson Welles scared the daylights out of radio listeners with “War of the Worlds” back in 1938 the public has embraced the terrifying prospect of alien invasion. But what if, notwithstanding the occasional humanist fable like “E.T.,” all those movies and television programs have been inculcating a potentially toxic form of interplanetary prejudice?

“District 9,” a smart, swift new film from the South African director Neill Blomkamp (who now lives in Canada and who wrote the screenplay with Terri Tatchell), raises such a possibility in part by inverting an axiomatic question of the U.F.O. genre. In place of the usual mystery what are they going to do to us? this movie poses a different kind of hypothetical puzzle. What would we do to them? The answer, derived from intimate knowledge of how we have treated one another for centuries, is not pretty.

A busy opening flurry of mock-news images and talking-head documentary chin scratching fills in a grim, disturbingly plausible scenario. Back in the 1980s a giant spacecraft stalled in the skies over Johannesburg. On board were a large number of starving and disoriented creatures, who were rescued and placed in a temporary refugee camp in the part of the city that gives the film its title. Over the next 20 years the settlement became a teeming shantytown like so many others in the developing world, with the relatively minor distinction of being home to tall, skinny bipeds with insectlike faces and bodies that seem to combine biological and mechanical features. Though there is evidence that those extraterrestrials known in derogatory slang as prawns because of their vaguely crustacean appearance represent an advanced civilization, their lives on Earth are marked by squalor and dysfunction. And they are viewed by South Africans of all races with suspicion, occasional pity and xenophobic hostility.

The South African setting hones the allegory of “District 9” to a sharp topical point. That country’s history of apartheid and its continuing social problems are never mentioned, but they hardly need to be. And the film’s implications extend far beyond the boundaries of a particular nation, which is taken as more or less representative of the planet as a whole.

No group, from the mostly white soldiers and bureaucrats who corral and abuse the prawns to the Nigerian gangsters who prey upon the aliens and exploit their addiction to cat food, is innocent. And casual bigotry turns out to be the least of the problems facing the exiles. As it progresses, “District 9” uncovers a horrific program of medical experimentation yoked to a near-genocidal agenda of corporate greed. A company called M.N.U. (it stands, none too subtly, for Multi-National United) has taken over administration of the prawn population, which means resettling the aliens in a remote enclosure reminiscent of the Bantustans of the apartheid era.

The M.N.U. executive charged with carrying out this program is Wikus van der Merwe (Sharlto Copley), a nervous nebbish whose father-in-law (Louis Minnaar) is the head of the company. Cowardly, preening and hopeless at projecting authority, Wikus is the kind of guy who gives nepotism a bad name. It says a lot about Mr. Blomkamp’s sense of humor, and about his view of his own species, that this pathetic little paper pusher is his chosen agent of mankind’s potential moral redemption.

But I’m getting ahead of the story, and perhaps overselling the allegory. Not that the metaphorical resonances of “District 9” aren’t rich and thought provoking. But the filmmakers don’t draw them out with a heavy, didactic hand. Instead, in the best B-movie tradition, they embed their ideas in an ingenious, propulsive and suspenseful genre entertainment, one that respects your intelligence even as it makes your eyes pop (and, once in a while, your stomach turn).

The early pseudo-documentary conceit, which uses footage that pretends to have been harvested from news choppers and security cameras as well as some by the unseen crew accompanying Wikus on his tour of the prawn camp, fades away after a while. The academic authorities do too, having served the dual functions of providing narrative exposition and demonstrating the high-minded uselessness of official liberal discourse.

Once a terrible accident befalls Wikus, we are at his side and under his skin, and “District 9” subtly shifts from speculative science fiction to zombie bio-horror and then, less subtly, turns into an escape-action-chase movie full of explosions, gunplay and vehicular mayhem.

In the midst of it all you almost take for granted the carefully rendered details of the setting, the tightness of the editing and the inventiveness of the special effects. Not the least of these are the aliens themselves, who are made expressive and soulful without quite being anthropomorphized. (Their whirring, clicking speech, partly understood by Wikus and others who work with the creatures, is translated for the rest of us via subtitles.)

One in particular, named Christopher Johnson (Jason Cope), becomes Wikus’s protector and ward, and their relationship turns “District 9,” in its final act, into an intergalactic buddy picture, with some intriguing (and also possibly disappointing) sequel opportunities left open.

At its core the film tells the story hardly an unfamiliar one in the literature of modern South Africa of how a member of the socially dominant group becomes aware of the injustice that keeps him in his place and the others, his designated inferiors, in theirs. The cost he pays for this knowledge is severe, as it must be, given the dreadful contours of the system. But if the film’s view of the world is bleak, it is not quite nihilistic. It suggests that sometimes the only way to become fully human is to be completely alienated.

“District 9” is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). It has intense violence and violent swearing in the languages of two planets.

Opens on Friday nationwide.

Directed by Neill Blomkamp; written by Mr. Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell; director of photography, Trent Opaloch; edited by Julian Clarke; production designer, Philip Ivey; music by Clinton Shorter; produced by Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham; released by TriStar Pictures. Running time: 1 hour 51 minutes.

WITH: Sharlto Copley (Wikus), David James (Koobus), Jason Cope (Christopher Johnson), Vanessa Haywood (Tania) and Louis Minnaar (Piet Smit).

an image, when javascript is unavailable

The Definitive Voice of Entertainment News

Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter

site categories

‘district 9’: film review.

No true fan of science fiction — or, for that matter, cinema — can help but thrill to the action, high stakes and suspense built around a very original chase movie.

By Kirk Honeycutt

Kirk Honeycutt

Share on Facebook
Share to Flipboard
Send an Email
Show additional share options
Share on LinkedIn
Share on Pinterest
Share on Reddit
Share on Tumblr
Share on Whats App
Print the Article
Post a Comment

THR Newsletters

More from The Hollywood Reporter

Telluride: ‘the apprentice’ filmmakers discuss blind criticisms of their movie, offer to screen it for trump, think he will like it, ‘nobu’ review: a glowing and straightforward portrait of the japanese chef and his empire, brad pitt and george clooney whip venice film festival into a frenzy with ‘wolfs’ world premiere, ‘battleground’ review: a sober but overly academic italian drama about the moral conflicts of world war i military doctors, amazon prime video’s new releases coming in september 2024, ‘wolfs’ review: brad pitt and george clooney reunite for a cunning caper that never takes itself too seriously — sometimes to a fault.

DISTRICT 9 Review

Your changes have been saved

Email is sent

Email has already been sent

Please verify your email address.

You’ve reached your account maximum for followed topics.

Every Batman Movie, Ranked by Action

The 10 best coming-of-age movies of the 2020s, ranked, all 11 'lord of the rings' books, ranked.

The filmmakers and marketing team of "District 9" have gone to great lengths to keep the plot of the film obscured in ads and trailers for the film. You know it involves aliens. You know it involves a district in Johannesburg, South Africa. At most, you know the aliens are stuck on Earth and want to go home.

There's only one more thing you should know: "District 9" is one of the best films of the year and to read further in this review without seeing the film would only spoil an experience where you can be one of the first in the door to see a picture that will rely on word of mouth to succeed. It's best to go in cold and I can't figure out a way to write this review without giving away so much of this film. Instead, I encourage you to come back to this review after you've seen "District 9" and see how my thoughts on the film matched up with your own.

[Major spoilers ahead]

Hopefully, you've now seen the film and while I'll go through major plot points you already know, I want to explain them in more detail and analyze them where applicable. Obviously, at the end of this review you can judge whether I succeeded at that or not.

"District 9" is a slum in Johannesburg that houses all of the aliens who arrived on a spaceship in 1982. Weak, malnourished, and unable to repair their ship, we transported the aliens to live on Earth but quarantined them in their own section. The aliens are not necessarily our prisoners but since they are refugees of a sort, their lives are run by Multi-National United (MNU) which is not a government agency but a private contractor. Of course, MNU's concern isn't the well-being of our extra-terrestrial visitors (they are not allowed to make a phone call of any kind), but to take from them every advanced technology they can harvest while making sure that District 9 is nothing more than a slum where the residents are left to fend for themselves and have no other recourse than to work with criminals and warlords in order to survive.

In the present day, we meet Wikus Van De Merwe (Sharlto Copley), a man who is the very definition of an "empty suit". A genial sort, Wikus tows the company line, has no respect for the aliens (which are derisively called "prawns" due to their appearance), and is the wimpy nerd to the MNU's private military of jocks. Wikus is put in charge of relocating the residents of District 9 into a new encampment. It's also a means of eviction where the aliens will have to trade their shacks for tents which provide even more cramped and cruel living conditions. But it's not that Wikus is a bad man or even a heartless man. He loves his wife, is well-liked by his co-workers, but he carries the popular mindset that since the Prawns (a name that the aliens even take for themselves which is interesting because it means they've lost most of their culture and identity since becoming stranded on Earth) aren't even human, then they can be herded around like cattle.

I don't even need to keep talking about the exposition and set-up (although I like to since I enjoyed the film so much) because most viewers will immediately spot the surface commentary on modern history. The clearest reference is to Apartheid which, although considered over in 1994, still shapes the cultural and political landscape of South Africa to this day. But you can see the parallels just as easily in the conflict between Israel and Palestine or really any conflict of the past 150 years where two factions operated in the same space and one used its power to dominate and control the other.

Except the Prawns have no land. They need to be on our land simply to survive. But as I said before, keeping them here isn't a humanitarian effort. MNU wants their technology; most notably, their weapons which are highly powerful and destructive but only Prawn DNA can activate them.

At this point, some may have already wondered: Why isn't the International community involved? Why is everyone in this film South African? It's hard to believe that just because the spaceship landed over Johannesburg, rather than New York or London or Paris (or any other major city that aliens traditionally like to visit and then destroy in movies) that other countries wouldn't step in to study and possibly even protect the aliens.

Except in another piece of insightful commentary (of which this film provides for numerous issues and will hopefully have people talking about the various issues and themes presented just beneath the surface of the exciting narrative), MNU is not a country. It is a corporation and thus practically responsible to no one. In the modern era, corporations are bulletproof, immune to taxes, sanctions, wars, and as we've acutely witnessed in the past year, even their own implosion. Corporations like MNU don't fight the government, they use it. Maybe an event as massive as first contact would push the International community past MNU's defenses, but as with most refugees, the negatives for a country always seem to far outweigh the positives. And thus we come back to the existence of District 9.

District 9 movie image Sharlto Copley (2).jpg

Before the film moves on to its heavy science fiction angle, it shoots the first act primarily as a documentary. We see news footage of the aliens landing, we see interviews with those (mostly academics) who support the rights of the aliens and those (mostly MNU workers and Johannesburg citizens) who feel the aliens must be walled off from humanity to ensure the best conditions for both species or just return to their ship and leave. The ship continues to hover over Johannesburg, overshadowing the city (not subtle symbolism but enjoyable nonetheless). As the "documentary" of the first act winds to a close, we follow Wikus through the shacks of District 9 as he attempts to evict the residents, as witnessed by a nameless cameraman. Everyone knows the camera is there and attempt to speak to it when they want to look good (especially Wikus who is almost channeling Murray Hewitt from "Flight of the Conchords") and then shove their hand into the lens and ask for editing at every embarrassing moment. The only time you don't see the camera is when we cut to the scenes only involving the Prawns. The Prawns don't notice the camera because there is no camera for them. This is the real world and then it hits you: this isn't our story; it's theirs.

Not only is the documentary a brilliant narrative device for both exposition and the dichotomy between the Prawns and Humans, but it's a cinematic necessity due to the film's $30 million budget. Also, you should keep in mind that all the aliens are completely CGI and there are no practical effects in their design. While you'll obviously notice that the aliens are computer generated, "District 9" is a shining example that CG used well is always better than the most expensive CG which calls attention to its price tag rather than the plot or characters. The documentary approach helps to ground the Prawns in reality and the hand-held camera, whether it's in the visual documentation or the narrative reality, makes you not look at the Prawns so closely that you're removed from the film before it even begins. It is also our view of the aliens and creates another wall between us and the Prawns. Even with the interviews of compassionate supporters of the aliens, there isn't a single interview with a Prawn to describe their plight. Whether it's by choice of the unseen documentary filmmaker or the enforcement of MNU, the Prawns do not have a voice in our story.

But even with all that removes the Prawns from a relationship with both the humans in the film and the audience, director Neill Blomkamp takes it another step further with the design of the aliens. There's a reason they're called "Prawns" and they are in no way cuddly. In addition to looking like their crustacean namesake, they speak in a language that sounds like a collection of clicks and burps. Let me put it another way: you will not be seeing them in a bike basket helping a young boy soar through the air on Halloween night. Even if we don't side with the actions of MNU, it's hard to feel compassion for the aliens when they're removed by both by the documentary and their less-than-charming appearance.

As the first act nears its close, we finally meet individual aliens outside the documentary. A Prawn named Christopher Johnson (probably not his actual name) has spent the last twenty years creating the necessary materials to revive the ship and get him and his son off Earth and eventually rescuing all the aliens stranded in District 9. With Wikus at the door of his hideout about to perform a search which will kill twenty years of work, Christopher trusts a friend to hide a cylinder of fluid while trying to sneak out to get avoid capture by the MNU. While his friend manages to succeed in that task, it goes sideways afterwards. Christopher's friend is prawn-handled by Wikus' personal MNU guard and there's an altercation where Wikus breaks his arm and the friend is killed (I may have put this event out of order but that's just another reason why I need to see the film again). Wikus clearly feels guilt about this turn of events but seems more concerned with looking tough in front of the camera and insists on just getting a medic to bandage up his arm so he can move on with his important and momentous task.

District 9 movie image Sharlto Copley (7).jpg

Soon after the altercation, Wikus comes knocking at Christopher's home with an eviction notice, not as a personal vendetta but as the impersonal empty suit come to enforce his newfound and underwhelming powers to relocate all the aliens into the new district. It's in this moment we see Wikus at his most cruel as he uses his petty bureaucratic powers to threaten Christopher to sign the eviction notice or else his son will be taken by child services. In this way Wikus is the epitome of the most universal kind of human evil. It is not a malicious evil but one that is not even considered wrong by its participants. The Prawns are not human. They may have to live like humans on a human planet imprisoned by humans, but despite their unlovable exteriors, they are humanoid with two arms (although there are little vestigial ones come out their chests and torsos), two legs, a head and they can be killed just as easily as humans. We can even manage a rough form of communication. But since the Prawns have been segregated and forced into submission by humans, people like Wikus don't think they're being cruel. They think they're being kind and reasonable and that the Prawns should be grateful for our "benevolence".

At this moment, Christopher does everything he can to protect his son and protect his project by complying with all of Wikus' demands. Christopher also tries to play it smart by understanding the laws of District 9 and manages to earn another 24 hours by turning Wikus' bureaucracy back at him. Wikus is still allowed to search Christopher's home and he marvels at all the technology Christopher has put together. Wikus then comes across the fluid cylinder and as he examines it he is sprayed a black liquid. Again, Wikus toughens up in front of the camera even though it's clear that the responsible task is to immediately go to MNU's medical division and place himself in quarantine. But this isn't some stupid moment like at the beginning of "The Invasion" where Jeremy Northam plays a scientist-officer guy who just picks up a strange meteorite even though everyone around him is wearing haz-mat suits and then cuts himself on the strange meteorite before carrying on with his day. That's not Wikus. At this point we know and understand Wikus and while he's acting irresponsibly, he doesn't want to give up his modicum of power, a power that he's clearly lacked for most of his life. Even afterwards, when his fingernails start coming off and black ooze is coming out his nose, Wikus doesn't reveal what's happened to him and fears not only himself but what may happen to him if his condition is revealed.

District 9 movie image Sharlto Copley.jpg

At this point, the documentary style has mostly phased out of the picture but it's never completely gone. We periodically hear from talking heads and we learn that Wikus did something and some don't understand it and others assign him motive. We now know that all these interviews are happening after the events of the narrative and we're witnessing both a prologue and an epilogue spliced into the main storyline. As the narrative continues, the documentary style occasionally appears through the objective lens of a security camera and later on news footage. This brilliant narrative structure is one of the many reasons I absolutely love this film and those who don't will vex me. I shall be vexed.

It doesn't take long for Wikus' condition to finally reveal itself as he vomits black liquid while cutting a cake at his own surprise congratulatory party. Rushed to the hospital and his sling removed, Wikus and the audience learn that his arm has transformed into the arm of a Prawn. Naturally, he freaks the hell out before being sedated. He then begins a horrific odyssey as he's taken prisoner by MNU and forced to participate in dissections, drillings, and most importantly for MNU, to see if he can operate alien weaponry. He can and at that moment Wikus knows they're going to pull him apart to try and duplicate his transformation since we've learned that digesting Prawn body parts or injecting Prawn DNA is useless in activating their weaponry. But before Wikus receives confirmation of his fate, his last target when testing the weapons is not a test dummy but a defenseless Prawn, shackled and with a big red "X" on his chest. Wikus won't do it. He knows it's wrong and that for all his bureaucratic abuse and disrespect towards the Prawns, he knows this is taking another life. We're captivated by the fear and emotional torment we can see in his eyes. And then, like Wikus threatened Christopher's child, MNU threatens to capture and dissect Wikus' wife, and then they wrap their hand around Wikus' and he pulls the trigger, obliterating the Prawn in a bloody mess around the test chamber.

Finally, at the moment when he's about to be cut into tiny pieces, Wikus manages to escape and he knows the only place he can go is back to District 9 and to Christopher. He's now eating the Prawns' food/drug, cat food and the transformation is spreading past his arm and it's only a matter of time before he's completely transformed into a Prawn. He knows that Christopher is the only one who has the power to change him back and it isn't because Wikus wants his old job or his old life back. He just wants to go back to his wife, Tania (Vaness Haywood). Tania is his life and his love for her is the refuge of his humanity.

So Wikus strikes a bargain with Christopher: Wikus gets the fluid back from MNU and in return Christopher will reverse the transformation.

I'm going to stop going on about the plot and will just hit a few more major points about the film in the hopes that your eyes haven't glazed over.

This is NOT a "Walk a mile in someone else's shoes/see how the other half lives"-kind of story. Those elements are there but it's not Wikus' motivation. He doesn't care about the plight of the Prawns or if they can return to their ship. Wikus is only interested in one thing: survival. He's not trying to be a hero or fulfill some kind of cosmic destiny long fortold in a sacred prophecy of the alien race. He's just a regular guy who finds himself into extraordinary circumstances and it's not out of the goodness of his heart that he helps Christopher. Wikus only wants to become human again and go home to his wife.

This motivation makes the emotional climax of the film hit harder than any of the films absolutely brilliant kills at the hands of the alien weaponry. As Wikus and Christopher attempt to make their way back to Christopher's home so he can complete his plan to return to the mother ship, Wikus makes a choice. Wikus can turn around and use a biomechanical mech he's acquired to fend off the MNU military raining down on him but Christopher probably won't make it back home alive. Or he can give his life to get Christopher to safety. Wikus, a man who has done everything to this point to ensure his own survival, both professional and then primal, decides to save Christopher. The man who was an empty suit at the beginning of the story is now in a suit that is not only extremely powerful, but is power used for a selfless cause. There aren't many sci-fi/action films that provide that kind of satisfaction.

And we've seen blockbuster films this summer that try to blend that mix of quasi-science fiction and high-octane action and in one case it worked ("Star Trek") and in others it completely and utterly failed ("Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" and "Terminator Salvation"). These three films, with their major stars, mega-franchises, and massive budgets aren't as good as a $30 million film from South Africa with no stars, a debut feature film from an unknown director, a plot purposely kept under wraps, and calling out Peter Jackson as the producer as the only easy marketing. Think on that for a while and then let your jaw drop.

Every penny of that budget is on screen. I'm always noting the best kills of the year (I'm sick like that) and when it comes to "District 9" all I can say is "All of them." Watching Vikus or Christopher make an MNU soldier's head explode into a bloody pile never gets old. You think it would around the 11th or 12th time, but nope. It's enjoyable every time, especially when Blomkamp splatters a little blood on the camera to great effect.

What else can I say about Neill Blomkamp? He was originally slated a few years ago to direct a film based on the popular videogame series, "Halo". I hope every person who sees "District 9" is relieved that never happened. It's not because Blomkamp couldn't do it. It's just that it would be a waste of his time and talent because he's clearly better than the material. Why lock himself into an unoriginal world with an uninspired storyline and nothing but rabid fans to hound him along the way when he could do a movie like "District 9" instead? I'm not worried about Blomkamp being good enough to handle any material. Now my concern is whether or not the material is good enough for him .

District 9 movie image Neill Blomkamp.jpg

Then there's Sharlto Copley as Wikus and it's a bigger breakthrough performance than "Zach Galifianakis" in "The Hangover" because at least there were folks who were already aware of Galifianakis. I don't think anyone other than his friends and family knew the name "Sharlto Copley" before this film but once "District 9" comes out, everyone who sees it will be running to Copley's IMDb page to check out his previous work and then they'll be dumbstruck; he doesn't have any. This isn't only his feature film debut, but it's his first professional acting job in film or television. I'm still trying to process that one.

Finally, I've heard a few complaints about the lack of a singular antagonist but I believe those concerns are incorrect because to the Prawns, we're all antagonists. We're all faceless bureaucrats or sadistic soldiers or just heartless thugs all profiting off their suffering. We're not trying to find their deeper motives because they're of Wikus' old world of self-interest and blissful ignorance. Humans never have to make a hard choice because they've already made all their choices when it comes to the Prawns. And it's not to say that every human in the world is bad just as every alien in District 9 is good.

I thank you for seeing "District 9" and I'm thankful that we still have films like "District 9", especially when every summer feels over-populated with sequels and adaptations and remakes. And I'm personally thankful to you, dear reader, if you read this ridiculously lengthy review of "District 9".

Oh, crap. I forgot one more thing: I want to take Christopher's adorable son home with me.

Rating ----- A

Den of Geek

District 9 review

A sci-fi movie with great visual effects AND a brain: did someone in Hollywood miss a meeting...?

Share on Facebook (opens in a new tab)
Share on Twitter (opens in a new tab)
Share on Linkedin (opens in a new tab)
Share on email (opens in a new tab)

As far as mentors go, Peter ‘Lord Of The Rings’ Jackson has to be up there with the very biggest. Just imagine it: you’re a young filmmaker, talented but as yet untried, and one of the most powerful men in world cinema takes you under his wing.

With his (Jackson’s) backing, you secure a $30 million budget for your first feature – a virtual mockumentary on extraterrestrial apartheid, set in Johannesburg, without a single star actor attached – and are given total creative control of the project. Yeah, it’s safe to say District 9 ‘s director, Neill Blomkamp, was given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

But, oh boy, did the man deliver. District 9 is the most audacious sci-fi action film since The Matrix – and there can be no higher praise than that.

The 28 year-old Blomkamp – a South African native who moved to Canada in his late teens – has always been something of a high achiever, starting his career in 3D animation and VFX at the tender age of 16, before going on to direct award-winning music videos and commercials (including the famous Citroen’s breakdancing robot ad, Alive with Technology).

Ad – content continues below

So it was clear from the start that Jackson’s protégée was something of a prodigy. After being slated to direct the now defunct Halo adaptation, Blomkamp pitched Jackson an expanded story based on his short film Alive In Jo’Burg . The King of Kiwis loved it and greenlit the project.

The plot of District 9 has been kept closely under wraps, using a viral marketing campaign of teaser trailers and a drip feed of titillating titbits – so don’t expect the game to be given away here. This sense of anticipation is vital to District 9 ‘s aura of the unknown.

Very briefly then, the film is set in an alternate reality where 20 years ago a monolithic spaceship appeared over the skies of Johannesburg…and then did nothing. After several months, the spaceship was breached, revealing a million aliens, known only as Prawns, in a state of socio-regression.

Unsure as to how to continue, the South African government housed the refugees in a makeshift shantytown, District 9, where mass corruption soon became rife. Now, with public patience over the alien situation exhausted, a private defence company, the MNU (Multi-National United), have been employed to deal with the problem, who decide to pack the Prawns off to a purpose built concentration camp, District 10.

During the relocation process, which soon becomes a brutal disaster zone, bumbling MNU field agent Wikus van der Merwe (Sharlto Copely), a lovable Afrikaans redneck with a striking similarity to Rhys Darby’s Murray character from Flight Of The Concords , and promoted way over his head because he married a MNU executive’s daughter, gets involved in an Earth-shattering series of events.

Principally presented as a documentary on Wikus’ involvement in the events leading up to and after the Prawns’ extraordinary rendition, District 9 is a multimedia mash-up of TV news reports, vérité handycam footage, home movie outtakes, CCTV film and interviews.

However, unlike many of these ultra-real mock-ups, Blomkamp also fuses traditional filming into the mix. So whereas similar movies like Cloverfield and [REC] have always suffered from the ‘why are they still recording?’ question, District 9 doesn’t have to shoehorn in some contrived explanation for this.

Get the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox!

In a nutshell: if the camera being there isn’t plausible, just film it normally. It’s a brave, and hugely self-assured, decision that frees District 9 from the – let’s be honest – gimmicky nature of the Blair Witch device, and allows it to become a ‘real’ film in its own right. And what a film it is.

A visual masterpiece, particularly when its budget, relatively minor in the blockbuster stakes, is taken into account (Jackson described it as a ‘tiny project’, but then he has his own standards), District 9 puts a lot of recent event movies to shame. No wonder Blomkamp was regarded as a CGI genius – we’re talking Dark Knight levels of sexiness here.

Surging along at a breakneck, kinetic pace, and hardly pausing for a moment’s breath, District 9 is an audio-visual tour de force. The experience is like mainlining pure adrenalin, and so intensely engrossing that by the time the climax plays out and the credits roll, you’ll be buzzing harder than an ADD twelve-year-old dosed up on a cocktail of Ritalin and Red Bull.

And yet, the action remains crisp and clear throughout. There’s none of the Bay-esk, epilepsy-inducing Gatling gun editing and uber CG commotion so common in science fiction nowadays. You actually know what’s going on, all the time. Character development and world building isn’t sidelined in favour of spectacle ether.

Blomkamp throws in a healthy sense of gallows humour and a fully realised plot, devoid of any major holes. The decision to base the film in South Africa is priceless – even without apartheid parallels – and the Prawns’ social customs and physiological differences from our human ones doesn’t make their leap to reviled, second class citizens unbelievable. It is, in fact, a hugely likely reaction, sadly enough.

Stuffed full of the little details that create a bigger whole – the lead alien being called Christopher and the African warlord’s black market exploitation of the Prawn’s weakness for cat food, for example – District 9 is a perfect example of a brilliant premise executed to perfection.

Could this have been done within the strict confines of the Hollywood studio system? Who knows? Blomkamp hit the jackpot when he found a benefactor of Peter Jackson’s stature, but has repaid him in turn and produced the most startlingly original film for a long, long time.

With District 9 The MTV generation has come of age, and Blomkamp proven that the Children of the Eighties, weaned on a diet of boundless imagination, have the vision to redefine the scope of mainstream cinema much like Lucas, Ford Coppola and Spielberg did before them. If only someone is brave enough to give them a chance.

Yes, it really is that good.

District 9 goes on general UK release on the 4th of September.

Common Sense Media

Movie & TV reviews for parents

For Parents
For Educators
Our Work and Impact

Or browse by category:

Movie Reviews
Best Movie Lists
Best Movies on Netflix, Disney+, and More

Common Sense Selections for Movies

50 Modern Movies All Kids Should Watch Before They're 12

Best TV Lists
Best TV Shows on Netflix, Disney+, and More
Common Sense Selections for TV
Video Reviews of TV Shows

Best Kids' Shows on Disney+

Best Kids' TV Shows on Netflix

Book Reviews
Best Book Lists
Common Sense Selections for Books

8 Tips for Getting Kids Hooked on Books

50 Books All Kids Should Read Before They're 12

Game Reviews
Best Game Lists

Common Sense Selections for Games

Video Reviews of Games

Nintendo Switch Games for Family Fun

Podcast Reviews
Best Podcast Lists

Common Sense Selections for Podcasts

Parents' Guide to Podcasts

App Reviews
Best App Lists

Social Networking for Teens

Gun-Free Action Game Apps

Reviews for AI Apps and Tools

YouTube Channel Reviews
YouTube Kids Channels by Topic

Parents' Ultimate Guide to YouTube Kids

How to Help Kids Build Character Strengths with Quality Media

Family Tech Planners
Digital Skills
All Articles
Latino Culture
Black Voices
Asian Stories
Native Narratives
LGBTQ+ Pride
Best of Diverse Representation List

Multicultural Books

YouTube Channels with Diverse Representations

Podcasts with Diverse Characters and Stories

Common Sense Says
Parents Say 60 Reviews
Kids Say 134 Reviews

Common Sense Media Review

Sci-fi stunner is smart but gory; way too violent for kids.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 17+?

Lots of harsh/strong language, including "f--k" used near constantly,

Constant, bloody, and brutal violence, some of it involving humans and some invo

Some smoking and drinking.

Some discussion of prostitution and exotic venereal diseases in connection with

Any Positive Content?

The movie ultimately culminates with two beings -- one human, one alien -- worki

Although it takes place in a sci-fi context, the movie offers a fascinating pers

Lots of harsh/strong language, including "f--k" used near constantly, as well as "bastard," "oh my God," "balls," "crap," and more. Some of the swearing may be hard for American audiences to understand given the actors' accents.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Violence & Scariness

Constant, bloody, and brutal violence, some of it involving humans and some involving humanoid, insect-like aliens. Kicking, fighting, severed limbs. Torture, including a man being jabbed with cattle prod so that his hand will pull the trigger of a gun. Characters use high-tech sci-fi firearms, some of which strike with such force that they liquefy their victims. Alien weapons are tested on living beings. Scary medical experimentation imagery, including bloody, explicit body modifications as a man has his DNA rewritten by an alien virus.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Some discussion of prostitution and exotic venereal diseases in connection with talk about human/alien interspecies sex.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Positive Role Models

The movie ultimately culminates with two beings -- one human, one alien -- working together in the service of the common good and struggling to do the right thing at great personal cost and danger. A lot of painful, upsetting stuff happens to them and others along the way, of course.

Positive Messages

Although it takes place in a sci-fi context, the movie offers a fascinating perspective on South Africa's struggle with apartheid -- and on any nation's struggle with immigration and fear of "the other." The realization that the filmmakers didn't have to build the slums that their disenfranchised alien immigrants live in should also offer pause for thought.

Parents need to know that this gritty, buzzworthy sci-fi epic filmed in South Africa (and produced by Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson ) is full of extremely realistic, bloody violence, including severed limbs, lots of bodies, piles of high-tech weapons, and even torture. The movie's aliens aren't cute or appealing in any way -- they're scary-looking, insectoid creations with complex biologies and lives. Expect constant strong language (especially "f--k"), as well as some drinking, smoking, and discussion of sex. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Parent and Kid Reviews

Parents say (60)
Kids say (134)

Based on 60 parent reviews

Great movie for older kids

Parallels with xenophobia and apartheid, what's the story.

Set in an alternate present, DISTRICT 9 takes place in South Africa, where, 20 years ago, an alien ship came to rest in the skies above Johannesburg -- with more than a million workers and near-slaves aboard. Now, after two decades of uneasy co-existence, the local government is moving the alien "Prawns" from their ramshackle slums in District 9 to a new camp 200 kilometers away. But as part of the forced relocation, a government bureaucrat discovers that District 9 has secrets of its own.

Is It Any Good?

Produced by Peter Jackson, District 9 is a rarity -- a lower-budget science-fiction film with amazing effects, thrilling action, and, most importantly, emotional and intellectual depth. Turning the plight of marginalized groups into science fiction is nothing new, but District 9 's dark vision of the apartheid years is somehow brain-bendingly exciting and painfully real.

Director/co-writer Neill Blomkamp makes a few mistakes -- some of the character arcs have a few rough edges, and the film's middle section is a bit interminable -- but, at the same time, District 9 is a welcome antidote to "science-fiction films" like Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (which, of course, have no science in them whatsoever). The movie's willingness to take on complex political and moral questions is an equally welcome change from the bloodless, thoughtless gloss of big-budget action films like G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra . And, of course, it's just plain exciting -- full of action, comedy, eye-popping effects, and tricky stunts. District 9 is a bloody, brutal action-science-fiction allegory served up rough and raw, but that's what makes it worth getting excited about.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the movie's extreme violence . Is it meant to be realistic (in that, yes, high-tech alien weaponry could be this horrible) or is it just eye candy for action fans? Does it have more or less impact than the violence in a movie like G.I. Joe ?

How does the movie's news footage/documentary-like style compare to that of other large-scale sci-fi films? Does it seem more realistic? Does that make it scarier?

How does the movie's setting echo the real-life conditions of poverty and prejudice during South Africa's apartheid era? Even though it's a sci-fi film, what messages does the movie send about that period?

Can you think of other sci-fi movies (or other types of media) that have tackled tough political ideas through metaphor and fantasy?

Movie Details

In theaters : August 14, 2009
On DVD or streaming : December 22, 2009
Cast : David James , Jason Cope , Sharlto Copley
Director : Neill Blomkamp
Studio : Sony Pictures
Genre : Science Fiction
Run time : 113 minutes
MPAA rating : R
MPAA explanation : bloody violence and pervasive language
Last updated : May 13, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

What to watch next.

Blade Runner

Minority Report

Children of Men

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

Become a Critical Movie Critic
Movie Review Archives

Movie Review: District 9 (2009)

Khidr Suleman
Movie Reviews
8 responses
--> September 9, 2009

Like many films before, I had seen the trailer to District 9 . However, nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to witness when I stepped into Screen 5 to watch the entire film. Trust me, when I say that no amount of description can give justice to the story but I shall do my best anyway.

We are told the background as to how aliens ended up on Earth. It all started when an alien ship mysteriously appeared over Johannesburg in 1982. There was no contact with the aliens and the ship remained suspended in mid-air. The South African government eventually took the decision to cut into the ship where upon malnutritioned aliens were found. A refugee camp known as District 9 was set up to house them. However, what was originally supposed to be temporary accommodation became permanent as the aliens could not restart the mother ship. Today, the camp struggles to contain the 1 million inhabitants and riots between humans and aliens make the city a dangerous place. A private military organization known as Multi-National United (MNU for short) is tasked with forcibly moving the aliens to another camp 250 km outside of the city.

Throughout, we follow Wikus Van De Merwe (Sharlto Copley), an average Joe who is promoted by his father-in-law to head up the relocation project. As he makes his way around District 9 handing out eviction notices, he is exposed to a substance which has damning consequences and leads to him to becoming a fugitive.

The first half of the film is told in a documentary style and in a totally believable fashion. Interviews with MNU employees and relatives, and news and surveillance footage is mashed together to set the tone of the film and create curiosity within the audience. Normal storytelling service is resumed when we get to the fateful moment when everything in Winkus Van De Merde’s life changed.

The central themes dealt with in the film are that of segregation and xenophobia. The aliens are left to live in squalor, and are known degradingly as “prawns”. The location of South Africa is also far from coincidental. Director Neill Blomkamp was born in Johannesburg during South African apartheid and he does an admirable job of tackling the subject. The film is bound to raise historical interest in the new generation as the treatment of the aliens is a clear metaphor for the way in which black South Africans were treated (you’ve probably seen some posters dotted around bus stops, billboards and phone boxes which signify that the areas are for “Humans Only”. These not so subtle marketing techniques are a clear nod to the signs incorporated during apartheid.)

What makes the film even more impressive is that it was made on a $30 million budget. Proof, if ever there was, that you don’t need $200 million to make a great film. The small budget means a great deal of effort went into producing a good story that will captivate the audience on substance. This doesn’t mean there wasn’t any money left over for there to be realistic CGI though — there is; there just isn’t two hours worth of explosions. That said, District 9 does have some extremely gory scenes and towards the end of the movie, the body count does pile up.

Watching District 9 is an experience that you will never forget. The film provides you with a rollercoaster ride of emotions from disgust to sadness to joy. It is certainly one of the best crafted and thought provoking films of the year. I look forward to the inevitable District 10.

You don't understand! I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I could've been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am.

Feature: Top 10 80s Action Movie Stars Movie Review: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) Movie Review: The Spirit (2008) Movie Review: Ghost Town (2008)

'Movie Review: District 9 (2009)' have 8 comments

September 11, 2009 @ 11:12 am T.K.

District 9 succeeds brilliantly as an exercise in style, but the style promises a level of substance the film never quite delivers. If you’re looking for the late-summer special-effects action fantasy with big franchise potential, forget about G.I. Joe Instead, proceed directly to District 9.

September 12, 2009 @ 5:58 am Raphael

It isn’t clear if it’s exactly sci-fi, but an impressive movie and very original compared to other movies. Special effects are great too.

September 13, 2009 @ 9:00 am Captain Arcain

I was prepared for the visual effects and the style in which Peter Jackson gives you an intense and immersed feel for the universe he plops you in to when the lights dim. I was prepared for a good story and some gritty action sequences rife with splatter and gore. What I wasn’t prepared for was a raw story of human emotion and social commentary that struck enough chords to fill an orchestra hall. Oh sure, there was some cheese mixed in with the sumptuous buffet but that’s all part of the Jackson flair. Star Trek aside, I haven’t seen a sci-fi flick this good and this intensely passionate in quite a few years. Thus proving that the genre is far from dead. It’s merely been biding it’s time.

September 20, 2009 @ 4:53 am Molly Taylor

The film was brilliant. I completely understand when you say how hard it is to describe.

It worked on so many levels, and such a new concept (well first time I had seen it I think) the story where the aliens were the oppressed. The documentary style seems to work even through it is combined with non documentary sections.

And I found myself praying to god they didn’t make a sequal whilst desperate to know if he made good on the 3 year promise.

October 2, 2009 @ 12:41 pm lee

these comments are good and revelant – finally !!

i have been reading lots of other reviews and need to start commenting in order to clear up some of the misunderstandings.

ive read so many (usa) reviews about the “unbelievable main character” and the “fake accent” and to any south african Wikus is 100% typical of our own red neck those-who-never-apply for passports true blue south african. we all know lots of south africans who speak and act and (unfortunately) think exactly like wikus.

there is a huge problem with nigerian violence, scams and drug trafficking in SA and the locals have been protesting about it. Our malawian gardener who comes to us once a week always gets himself robbed by nigerians when returning to the townships, we have opened a bank account for him so that doesnt carry cash anymore. Our friends in JHB had their son killed because a nigerian gang kidnapped him and asked for a ransom, which our friends paid for, and they killed him anyway. So yes, its very very appropriate to include them in the movie.

The ruwandans, mocambiqueans, botswananas, malawians and all manner of neighbouring africans who have flocked into SA are corralled into the worst parts of every township and are called “aliens” locally.

Racism? Well the white guys are depicted as the baddies and the black guys in MNU are the nicest humans so the racist card is not that clear.

I find it amusing that people who would walk out of a movie only 20 minutes into it can write reviews and have any sort of intelligent opinion. The director clearly states that he didnt need to patronise the audience by explaining every little angle and leaves much to audience.

A good movie is one that gets people thinking and talking and this movie sure does that !!

I understood the brilliance of the movie when seeing it the second time and so much fell into place that I couldnt take in the first time because it was so intense.

Hopefully the academy will do their due diligence and try and understand the social and criminal context, the accent and ignore some of the super ignorant reviews that have been written by folk who cant understand a movie unless it spoonfeeds and stars Will Smith !!

February 18, 2010 @ 10:16 pm Steve

I was really touched by this movie. The special effects were unquestionably superior, but the story spoke more to me than any crazy effect could. District 9 is very deserving of its Best Picture nomination.

July 8, 2010 @ 11:31 pm Micro

This movie when it first started off I thought I was going to hate, but it really is a great movie not only sends a good message but it’s just overall pretty amazing. :)

January 4, 2011 @ 9:02 am Prader

Here I thought I was one of the few people who actually enjoyed this movie. When I first watched it I couldn’t wait to talk about it to all my friends. They were not as impressed. I don’t understand why? The movie was brilliant, and it didn’t leave you hanging. You know exactly what happens, and in my opinion it was a good ending. It’s good to see positive remarks about this movie.

| Log in

For the second time this summer, a young, brand-new director has emerged from out of nowhere to present a vision of where sci-fi can go from here. It first happened with Moon , the elegant and tightly sealed thinkpiece from Duncan Jones that operated far more with the head than with the heart. Now, from the complete opposite side, comes District 9 , Neill Blomkamp's visceral and thumping debut that, even if it doesn't have quite all its ideas in order, presents a fascinating and effective vision of the future, and of humanity itself.

Taking an obvious metaphor for apartheid as a mere jumping-off point, District 9 is set in Blomkamp's hometown of Johannesburg, South Africa, where 20 years earlier a spaceship appeared above the city and mysteriously stopped. Humans "rescued" the starving alien creatures inside it and rounded them up in an area called District 9, which quickly morphed into a slum where Nigerian gangsters prey off the aliens, given the derogatory but accurate nickname "prawns." The time has finally come for the government agency/weapons manufacturer MNU to relocate District 9 further from the city, and put in charge of the operation is bureaucratic dweeb Wikus Van De Merwe ( Sharlto Copley ), a guy who married the boss's daughter and has spent the rest of his life happily pushing pencils in a larger-than-average cubicle.

As he serves eviction notices to the prawns who live in the assorted shacks, Wikus takes delight in firebombing alien eggs and wielding his authority like a particularly obnoxious weapon. But when he comes afoul of a mysterious substance cooked up by an alien named, for some reason, Christopher Johnson, Wikus almost immediately begins a transformation into the world's first human-alien hybrid. After the government initially tries to slice him up for research and weapons development, Wikus escapes and takes refuge in the only hiding place he has left: District 9.

What follows is a fairly traditional search-and-rescue action movie plot, as Wikus and Christopher team up to recover the substance that transformed Wikus to begin with, for reasons better left discovered on your own. With a vivid imagination and a taste for gore, Blomkamp dreams up a whole arsenal of alien weapons that fry, blast and dismember human beings in all kinds of awesome ways. The film uses faux-documentary footage, news reports and security cameras combined with traditional photography to create its own kind of realism, giving the viewer the distinct feeling they are on the lam right next to Wikus. Blomkamp's handheld style is effective and never jerky; you always know where you are in the scene, which is especially critical when seeing more than one alien creature that looks essentially the same as the next one.

Created entirely out of CGI, the aliens are a true marvel, as Christopher and his little son are as real a character as E.T. or Wikus himself. It's a shame, then, that as we get to know the aliens and see subtitles for their language, that we don't learn more about them. Why did they show up here? Just how smart are they? What's their plan for getting back? It all gets shoved to the foreground in favor of Wikus' admittedly more interesting story, while a more experienced director might have been able to handle both stories. It technically doesn't matter that District 9 was so cheap, about $30 million, but it indicates an economy of both filmmaking and storytelling that, more than anything, makes Blomkamp a filmmaker worth watching. Even when it doesn't have all its ideas or the logic of its world in place, the narrative of Wikus' transformation from government stooge to freedom fighter is flawless. It helps that Copley turns in a stunning debut performance, ferocious and feral and constantly wonderful to watch.

District 9 isn't exactly sci-fi for the ages-- it's too unclear on what it has to say, and its story ranges too far within the meticulously created world without providing any real insight. But it's impressive not just as a debut, but as a new example of how to use original sci-fi as a mirror to our own world, and without $200 million budgets and space battles or even hobbits. Peter Jackson took the money he made making a faithful and beautiful adaptation, and has used it to fund something truly, remarkably original.

Staff Writer at CinemaBlend

Jeremy Allen White Details The Intense Work He’s Doing To Nail Bruce Springsteen’s Speaking And Singing Voice

As A Lifelong Godzilla Fan, I Just Went To A Monster Show In Tokyo And Have So Many Thoughts

As George R.R. Martin Hints At Having Issues With House Of The Dragon Season 2, Let's Revisit The 5 Biggest Changes From The Book

District 9 (2009)

User Reviews

Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews

User Ratings
External Reviews
Metacritic Reviews
Full Cast and Crew
Release Dates
Official Sites
Company Credits
Filming & Production
Technical Specs
Plot Summary
Plot Keywords
Parents Guide

Did You Know?

Crazy Credits
Alternate Versions
Connections
Soundtracks

Photo & Video

Photo Gallery
Trailers and Videos

Notice: All forms on this website are temporarily down for maintenance. You will not be able to complete a form to request information or a resource. We apologize for any inconvenience and will reactivate the forms as soon as possible.

DVD & Streaming
Action/Adventure , Drama , Sci-Fi/Fantasy , War

Content Caution

In Theaters

August 14, 2009
Sharlto Copley as Wikus Van De Merwe; David James as Koobus Venter; Vanessa Haywood as Tania Van De Merwe

Home Release Date

December 22, 2009
Neill Blomkamp

Distributor

Sony Pictures

Movie Review

Most of us love the occasional visit. We gussy up our guest rooms, happily cook meals and sit on our couches with guests, laughing and talking until the wee hours of the morning. At least that’s the way it works for a while. But eventually, even the most gracious of hosts feel the need to turn thoughts back to jobs and school and family and … normalcy.

So what happens if your houseguest is still there? What happens if they can’t leave?

Residents of Johannesburg, South Africa, know the feeling. About 20 years ago, a huge alien spacecraft parked itself over the city. For months, citizens waited for its occupants to come out and either say, “We come in peace” or “Die, earthling scum!” When neither happened, they decided to go up themselves and knock on the door. Inside, they found a race of insectoid creatures … starving, aimless—queenless, some scientists speculate. So, not wanting to be rude, Johannesburg welcomed them down to the planet and tried to make them feel—well, if not at home, at least comfortable.

Two decades later, Johannesburg’s ready for them to leave already. The aliens—now derogatorily referred to as “prawns”—are sequestered in a cramped, lawless ghetto in the middle of the city, where they live in makeshift shacks and pick through trash piled, seemingly, everywhere. Most humans think they deserve no better. Tension pops like bacon grease. In this country of longtime apartheid, where racial tensions have run deep for hundreds of years, blacks and whites finally have found something that unites them: Their growing hatred of prawns.

Johannesburg’s solution is to hire the huge, militaristic conglomerate Multi-National United to move the prawns—all 1.8 million of them by this point—to a new “relocation” (read: concentration) camp well outside the city. MNU, in turn, taps Wikus Van De Merwe—an undistinguished pencil pusher who happens to be married to the CEO’s daughter—to take on the daunting task.

Wikus launches into his duties with all the enthusiasm of a certain pointy-haired middle manager given a make-or-break shot at relevancy. He leads MNU enforcers into the ghetto and starts prodding prawns to sign eviction notices, clearing the way for their relocation. Along the way, he confiscates alien weapons (massively powerful things that, because they sport a biological trigger, are useless to humans), kills alien embryos and sets fire to shacks filled with prawn eggs.

[ Note: Spoilers are contained in the following sections. ]

When Wikus is exposed to an alien-made liquid, he finds this career opportunity coming undone—and his whole body, too. He starts throwing up. Black goo trickles from his nose. His fingernails and teeth begin falling out. And he slowly begins to transform … into a prawn.

Positive Elements

It’s hard to find much to praise when it comes to discussing Johannesburg’s human population. Even Wikus, hero of District 9 , is a jerk much of the time, and he’s frustratingly slow to lose his prejudices. But when he finally does, it galvanizes him into a ruthless champion who’s willing to sacrifice himself to save a prawn family. He also loves his wife dearly and does everything in his power to reunite with her.

As for the prawns, Christopher Johnson, a single parent raising a prawn lad, spends 20 years manufacturing a vial of fuel to power the hovering mother craft. When MNU officials take it, he and Wikus form an unlikely alliance to get it back. Wikus’ reasons are largely selfish: Christopher has promised to turn him back into a human. Christopher, meanwhile, has his eyes set on rescuing his people from our increasingly hostile planet.

Spiritual Elements

A petty crime lord is advised by a witch doctor to eat the body parts of prawns so he can absorb their power—advice he follows.

Sexual & romantic Content

We hear that “interspecies prostitution” goes on within the slum, a point driven home by the appearance of suggestively dressed women. Wikus is falsely accused of having sex with aliens: Evidence consists of a fabricated photo. (Wikus is fully clothed and contact is obscured with a censor box.) A crime henchman, seeing Wikus, alludes to the picture, saying he did it “doggy style with a demon” and asking whether he wore a condom. Someone makes a reference to testicles.

Violent Content

“I can’t believe I get paid for this,” MNU’s military leader tells a beaten, bloodied alien. “I love watching you prawns die.”

The filmmakers must believe moviegoers enjoy watching, too, because District 9 boasts a sky-high body count of both prawns and humans—though, frankly, there’s often very little left of the bodies to count.

The aliens rarely use their own weapons, though early on we see some news footage of crashed trains and the like, suggesting the prawns sometimes caused serious damage outside the ghetto. For the most part, prawns trade their weapons for, literally, cat food. Wikus, however, kills scores of people with the horrific weapons—sometimes tearing off their arms and heads, but more often they’re messily vaporized, leaving behind just a spatter of blood and gore. (He can fire them because of his new alien appendage.)

Humans and prawns are punched, kicked, thrown, shot, burned, gassed, blown up and otherwise treated poorly. A human kills a prawn, execution style, with a bullet to the head. A pack of prawns rip apart a human with their tentacles. (Blood spouts when the man’s head comes off.) A bomb explodes in an office building. A small missile lodges in the forehead of a human before exploding. Prawns appear to watch the alien equivalent of a cockfight, with two small creatures battling to the death in a makeshift ring. We see a charred prawn corpse. A lab worker stretches what appears to be a prawn skin.

Wikus’ transformation is incredibly painful to watch. He pulls out his own fingernails, yanks free his teeth and, finally, begins to peel away skin. Holes and sores begin to cover his flesh—places where Wikus’ burgeoning prawn body inside is working its way out. In an effort to stop the transformation, Wikus steals an ax and nearly chops off his prawn arm. (He settles for a finger.)

Because of his unique status as a human/prawn hybrid, Wikus becomes a desirable commodity for MNU. Doctors and officials poke and prod his evolving arm with needles (causing Wikus to curse and scream in pain) and eventually whisk him to a secret, Josef Mengele-style lab filled with prawn corpses and body parts. There, they strap him to a chair and force him to fire captured weapons (zapping him with electricity to make him pull the trigger). Most often, the target is a slab of meat. But the final “test” is on a living, confused prawn, whom the weapon obliterates in a cloud of blood. (Bits of the carcass spray Wikus.) Eventually, MNU decides to “harvest” everything they can from Wikus—”strip him down to nothing,” someone says—a fate Wikus escapes by fighting his way free from hospital personnel and holding a scalpel to the throat of a doctor.

A minor human-run crime syndicate in the ghetto also tries to separate Wikus from his arm—twice, in fact—so the crime leader can eat it.

Crude or Profane Language

More than 130 f-words, supplemented by close to a dozen s-words. God’s name is abused twice; Jesus’ once. “B–tard,” “p—” and the British profanity “bloody” also are heard.

Drug and Alcohol Content

The aliens love cat food—so much so that they’re willing to make one-sided trades to get it. It’s not completely clear whether it’s because they simply like the taste of the stuff, or whether their bodies react to it as if it’s a recreational drug.

Someone drinks a glass of whiskey.

Other noteworthy Elements

A prawn turns to face Wikus—and the camera—while urinating, so there’s probably some full-frontal alien nudity on display. (Whatever that may be!)

Vomit is a recurrent theme. Wikus, as he endures his painful transformation, throws up several times, including once all over a surprise birthday cake. He mentions that he might’ve defecated in his pants.

MNU’s CEO lies to his daughter. Wikus—not quite a good guy yet—knocks Christopher out, leaving him, for a while, in the hands of MNU mercenaries. When Christopher’s child asks where his dad is, Wikus lies, telling him that Christopher is just fine and will be along shortly.

Before I end this review by talking about the real-world racial issues District 9 explores by proxy, let me redirect your attention to what you’ve already read: “Violent Content.” “Crude and Profane Language.” And so on. This is a foul, messy and incredibly violent R-rated film—a movie that assaults the senses and has the power to make viewers shut their eyes, squirm in their seats and perhaps even run to the restroom for a breather.

That said, District 9 also comes with something you won’t find in such summer blockbusters as Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen or G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra . It comes with a message.

The director, native South African Neill Blomkamp, ushers moviegoers into a brutal, ugly world that, for all the aliens running around, feels sadly familiar. It holds echoes of some of humanity’s most shameful, legalized crimes against itself: Blacks in apartheid-era South Africa. Jews in Nazi Germany. American Indians in the early years of the United States. History shows us how frighteningly easy it can be to marginalize people who look or act differently from us.

But when I watched District 9 , I couldn’t help thinking back to one of history’s first written examples of mass persecution, alienation and genocide: Pharaoh’s mistreatment of the Israelites in Egypt.

There, in the land of Goshen, was a burgeoning alien race. They were so different from the Egyptians … so frightening to them, with their one God and ever-growing numbers. So Pharaoh isolated them, bullied them, enslaved them and killed their children. And the Israelites called up to heaven for someone to save them.

God sent Moses.

Christopher James tells Wikus how he longs to save his people, and he uses those words: “My people.” He is not a leader—we get a sense the prawns have none. But perhaps, given some time in the wilderness of space, he could become one.

District 9 is not religious. It’s not spiritual. If the filmmakers in any way intended these biblical parallels, they keep evidence of it mostly under wraps.

But it does suggest, however obliquely, a sense of divine destiny and universal morality. While we can see how racism, both covert and overt, took root in Johannesburg when the aliens began to outlive their welcome, it does not excuse it. And that—even in a film as hard and horror-filled as this—is saying something.

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

Latest Reviews

reagan movie president reagan gives a speech

City of Dreams

Weekly Reviews Straight to your Inbox!

Want to stay Plugged In?

Our weekly newsletter will keep you in the loop on the biggest things happening in entertainment and technology. Sign up today, and we’ll send you a chapter from the new Plugged In book, Becoming a Screen-Savvy Family , that focuses on how to implement a “screentime reset” in your family!

IMAGES

‘District 9’ movie review: Neill Blomkamp’s alien apartheid parable
Film review
Movie Review
District 9
District 9 Picture 12
District 9 Review

VIDEO

District 9 Movie Trailer Excellent HD Quality
Curiosidades sobre o filme Distrito 9
District 9 sequel? Sharlto Copley reveals all
District 9 (2009) MOVIE REACTION!
District 9
District 9 Scene fluid