In 1988 there was a movie called Alien Nation that starred James Caan about Earth’s first contact with an alien civilization. In the film, and later the television series of the same name, the aliens, known as “Newcomers”, are first quarantined but are later integrated into human civilization, only become the victims of a new type of discrimination.

The fundamental premise of District 9 is very similar.  In a not-so-distant past, an alien ship appeared hovering over South Africa.  The ship’s inhabitants are lobster-like creatures who don’t seem to be all that bright, and their ship (along with much their technology) is disabled.  We aren’t told why or how.

The aliens are brought out of the ship into Johannesburg, where they are segregated from humans and regarded as savages.  These are not cute E.T.’s or furry A.L.Fs; they’re loathsome.  Unlike the squeaky clean happy future of Star Trek, these aliens scavenge like roaches for cans of cat food and evoke so little sympathy the humans call them bottom-feeding “prawns”.

All of this is told in a mockumentary format through interviews and hand-held COPS-like shaky cam footage (which got a bit tedious at a few points).   The main story begins 20 or so years after their arrival as a private company named MNU is tasked with relocating the aliens from District 9 to a new internment camp (District 10) which is hundreds of kilometers away from the city.

We follow a hapless MNU bureaucrat tasked with heading up the relocation as his team enters District 9 and they begin literally a door-to-door eviction process.  Of course, the company has sinister motives, and the aliens have their secrets too (this is a summer blockbuster movie, right?)

Why are they here?  Why can’t they leave?  Why do they have weapons but they don’t seem to use them?  All of these questions (and dozens more) started pouring through my mind and I found myself quickly immersed inside this dirty, grotesque District 9.  It really sucks you in quickly and doesn’t let you go until it’s over.

I’m hesitant to give away much more than that, because part of the fun of the movie is not really knowing where all of this is headed.   Will the aliens rise up against the humans?   Do they come to form an understanding?  What of this superior yet seemingly defunct technology?

As the questions mount, so does the excitement.  It has elements of Enemy Mine, Independence Day, Alien Nation, and the Alien films.   But if you felt duped by Signs or War of the Worlds, you can go into this film confident that it won’t leave you with the SciFi equavelent of blue balls.  District 9 pays off.