''The Fourth Kind'' is a 2009

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

horror

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

written and directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi and starring

Milla Jovovich Milica Bogdanovna Jovović; ; ( ; born December 17, 1975), known professionally as Milla Jovovich (), is an American actress and former fashion model. Her starring roles in numerous science fiction film, science-fiction and action films led th ...

Elias Koteas Elias Koteas (; ; born March 11, 1961) is a Canadian actor who has performed in lead and supporting roles in numerous films and television series. He won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the film '' Ararat'' (20 ...

, Corey Johnson,

Will Patton William Rankin Patton (born June 14, 1954) is an American actor. He starred as Colonel Dan Weaver in the TNT science fiction series '' Falling Skies''.Charlotte Milchard, Mia McKenna-Bruce, Julian Vergov, and Osunsanmi. The title is derived from the expansion of

J. Allen Hynek Josef Allen Hynek (May 1, 1910 – April 27, 1986) was an American astronomer, professor, and ufologist. He is perhaps best remembered for his UFO research. Hynek acted as scientific advisor to UFO studies undertaken by the U.S. Air Force un ...

's classification of

close encounter In ufology, a close encounter is an event in which a person witnesses an unidentified flying object (UFO) at relatively close range, where the possibility of mis-identification is presumably greatly reduced. This terminology and the system of cla ...

s with aliens, in which the fourth kind denotes alien abductions. The film is a pseudodocumentary, purporting to be a dramatic re-enactment of true events that occurred in

Nome, Alaska Nome (; , , also ''Sitŋazuaq'', ''Siqnazuaq'') is a city in the Nome Census Area, Alaska, Nome Census Area in the Unorganized Borough, Alaska, Unorganized Borough of the US state of Alaska. The city is located on the southern Seward Peninsula c ...

, in which a psychologist uses

hypnosis Hypnosis is a human condition involving focused attention (the selective attention/selective inattention hypothesis, SASI), reduced peripheral awareness, and an enhanced capacity to respond to suggestion.In 2015, the American Psychological ...

to uncover memories of alien abduction from her patients and finds evidence suggesting that she may have been abducted as well. At the beginning of the film, Jovovich informs the audience this entire movie is actually real, that she will be playing a character based on a real person named Abigail Tyler, and that the film will feature archival footage of the real Tyler. The "Abigail Tyler" seen in the archival footage is played by Milchard, and at various points throughout the film, the archival footage scenes and accompanying dramatic re-enactments are presented side by side. Director Osunsanmi appears in the film himself as the interviewer of the "real" Tyler. ''The Fourth Kind'' premiered at the Screamfest Horror Film Festival on October 24, 2009, before opening theatrically in the United States and United Kingdom on November 6, 2009. The film's marketing campaign, which featured fake news articles attributed to real Alaskan news outlets, drew notable controversy and resulted in the studio being sued, ending with a $20,000 settlement paid to the Alaska Press Club. The film received unfavorable reviews from critics but was a modest box-office success, grossing $49.5 million worldwide. Despite its unfavorable critical reception, the film has gone on to attain a

cult following A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The latter is often called a cult classic. A film, boo ...

in the years since its release. In 2024, '' IndieWire'' ranked it the sixth scariest alien film ever made.

Plot

Chapman University Chapman University is a private research university in Orange, California, United States. Encompassing eleven colleges, the university is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity". The school maintains its foundi ...

hosts a televised interview with

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and explanation, interpretatio ...

Dr. Abigail "Abbey" Tyler, who describes a series of events that occurred in

that culminated in an alleged alien abduction in October 2000. In a re-enactment of events occurring in August 2000, Abbey's husband, Will, is murdered, leaving her to raise their two children, Ashley and Ronnie. Abbey tapes

hypnotherapy Hypnotherapy, also known as hypnotic medicine, is the use of hypnosis in psychotherapy. Hypnotherapy is generally not considered to be based on scientific evidence, and is rarely recommended in clinical practice guidelines. However, several p ...

sessions with patients with shared experiences of a white owl staring at them as they sleep before creatures attempt to enter their homes. That night, Abbey is called by the police because one of her patients is holding his wife and two children at gunpoint. He states that he remembers everything and asks what "Zimabu Eter" means. Despite Abbey's pleas, he murders his family and commits suicide. Abbey suspects that these patients may have been victims of an alien abduction. There is evidence that she may have been abducted as well, when an assistant gives her a

tape recorder An audio tape recorder, also known as a tape deck, tape player or tape machine or simply a tape recorder, is a sound recording and reproduction device that records and plays back sounds usually using magnetic tape for storage. In its present ...

that plays the sound of something entering her home and attacking her. The attacker speaks an unknown language and Abbey has no memory of the incident. Abel Campos, a colleague from

Anchorage Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolita ...

, is suspicious of the claims. Abbey calls upon Dr. Awolowa Odusami, a specialist in

ancient language An ancient language is any language originating in times that may be referred to as ancient. There are no formal criteria for deeming a language ancient, but a traditional convention is to demarcate as "ancient" those languages that existed prior t ...

s who was a contact of her late husband, to identify the language on the tape. Odusami identifies it as Sumerian. Another patient, Scott, wishes to communicate. He admits that there was no owl and speaks of "them", but cannot remember anything further and begs Abbey to come to his home to hypnotize him. Under hypnosis, he begins hovering above his bed, while a voice speaking through Scott orders Abbey in Sumerian to end her study. Town sheriff August later arrives, telling her that Scott is paralyzed from the neck down. Believing Abbey to be responsible, August tries to arrest her though Campos comes to Abbey's defense and confirms her story. August instead places Abbey under guard inside her house. A police officer watches Abbey's house when a large black triangular object appears in the sky. The image distorts, but the officer is heard describing people being pulled out of the house and calling for backup. Deputies rush into the house, finding Ronnie and Abbey, who says Ashley was taken. A disbelieving and enraged August accuses Abbey of kidnapping and removes Ronnie from her custody. Sometime later, Abbey undergoes hypnosis in an attempt to make contact with the beings responsible and reunite with her daughter. Hypnotized, Abbey recalls that she witnessed Ashley's abduction and she was abducted as well. An alien presence communicates with Abbey, who begs for Ashley's return. It states Ashley will never come back before referring to itself as "

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

". When the encounter ends, Campos and Odusami rush over to the now unconscious Abbey and then notice something offscreen. The image distorts again as a voice yells "Zimabu Eter!" before resolving to show that all three are gone. Abbey wakes up in a hospital with a broken neck. August reveals that Will had committed suicide, and Abbey's belief that he was murdered was a delusion. The re-enactment ends and, back in the present, Abbey states that she, Campos and Odusami were abducted during the hypnosis session, but cannot recall their experiences. She is asked how anyone can take her claims of alien abduction seriously if she was proven to be delusional about her husband's death. Abbey states that she has no choice but to believe that Ashley is still alive, before breaking down in tears. Abbey is cleared of all charges against her, leaves Alaska for the East Coast, where her health deteriorates to the point of requiring constant care. Campos remains a psychologist and Odusami becomes a professor at a Canadian university. Both men, as well as August, refuse to be involved with the interview, while Ronnie remains estranged from Abbey, still blaming her for Ashley's disappearance.

Cast

as a re-enactment of Abbey Tyler ** Charlotte Milchard, credited only as "Nome resident", portrays the "real" Dr. Abigail Emily Tyler. *

Will Patton William Rankin Patton (born June 14, 1954) is an American actor. He starred as Colonel Dan Weaver in the TNT science fiction series '' Falling Skies''.Hakeem Kae-Kazim Hakeem Kae-Kazim (born 1 October 1962) is a British actor and producer. He portrayed Georges Rutaganda in the film ''Hotel Rwanda'' (2004) and won a SAFTA for his performance in the film '' Riding with Sugar'' (2020). He produced and starred ...

as Awolowa Odusami * Corey Johnson as Tommy Fisher * Enzo Cilenti as Scott Stracinsky *

as Abel Campos * Eric Loren as Deputy Ryan * Mia McKenna-Bruce as Ashley Tyler * Raphaël Coleman as Ronnie Tyler * Alisha Seaton as Theresa In addition, Jovovich provides opening and dialogue as herself, setting the pretext of the pseudo-documentary's "true" events; as a further pretext of the pseudo-documentary, "Dr. Abigail Emily Tyler" is shown in the closing tombstone credits as having "appeared" in the film. During the fictional "real" footage, the interviewer is played by the director-screenwriter of this entire endeavour, Olatunde Osunsanmi.

Production

Development

This is the first major film by writer and director Olatunde Osunsanmi, who is a protégé of

independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is film production, produced outside the Major film studios, major film studio system in addition to being produced and distributed by independ ...

director

Joe Carnahan Joseph Aaron Carnahan (born May 9, 1969) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and actor whose films include '' Blood, Guts, Bullets and Octane''; '' Narc''; '' Smokin' Aces''; ''The A-Team''; '' The Grey''; and '' Boss Level''. He ...

. The movie is set up as a re-enactment of allegedly original documentary footage. It also uses supposedly "never-before-seen archival footage" that is integrated into the film.

Basis

The film is loosely inspired by a series of real

missing person A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as Life, alive or Death, dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are unknown. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accide ...

cases on the west coast of Alaska along the

Bering Strait The Bering Strait ( , ; ) is a strait between the Pacific and Arctic oceans, separating the Chukchi Peninsula of the Russian Far East from the Seward Peninsula of Alaska. The present Russia–United States maritime boundary is at 168° 58' ...

, which did in fact prompt an investigation by the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

. While the film suggests extraterrestrial abduction as a cause for the disappearances, the real investigation found alcohol use and frigid temperatures to be the cause of most of the reported incidents. Of the disappearances, nine individuals were never recovered.

Filming

''The Fourth Kind'' was shot in

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

and

Squamish, British Columbia Squamish (; , ; 2021 census population 23,819) is a community and a district municipality in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, located at the north end of Howe Sound on the British Columbia Highway 99 ...

, Canada. The lush, mountainous setting of Nome in the film bears little resemblance to the actual Nome, Alaska, which sits amidst the fringes of the arctic

tree line The tree line is the edge of a habitat at which trees are capable of growing and beyond which they are not. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually low ...

, where trees can only grow about 8 ft tall due to the

permafrost Permafrost () is soil or underwater sediment which continuously remains below for two years or more; the oldest permafrost has been continuously frozen for around 700,000 years. Whilst the shallowest permafrost has a vertical extent of below ...

on the shore of the

Bering Sea The Bering Sea ( , ; rus, Бе́рингово мо́ре, r=Béringovo móre, p=ˈbʲerʲɪnɡəvə ˈmorʲe) is a marginal sea of the Northern Pacific Ocean. It forms, along with the Bering Strait, the divide between the two largest landmasse ...

Release

''The Fourth Kind'' premiered at the Screamfest Horror Film Festival in Los Angeles on October 24, 2009 as the festival's closing film. It opened theatrically in the United States and United Kingdom two weeks later, on November 6, 2009.

Marketing

To promote the film,

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

created a website with fake news stories supposedly taken from real Alaska newspapers, including the '' Nome Nugget'' and the '' Fairbanks Daily News-Miner''. The campaign drew controversy and the newspapers sued Universal, who admitted to using the names without permission. A settlement was soon reached in which Universal agreed to remove the fake stories and pay $20,000 to the Alaska Press Club and a $2,500 contribution to a scholarship fund for the Calista Corporation. In the settlement, it was noted: "Universal agrees to the permanent disabling and removal of, and represents and warrants that it has already permanently disabled access to and removed from the Internet, all news articles."

Home media

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment Universal Pictures Home Entertainment LLC (UPHE) is the home video distribution division of Universal Pictures, an American film studio owned by NBCUniversal, the entertainment unit of Comcast. UPHE is the home video distributor for all of the ...

released ''The Fourth Kind'' on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

and

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

on March 16, 2010. The film earned $9,626,544 in DVD sales, with an additional $974,737 in Blu-ray sales.

Reception

Box office

''The Fourth Kind'' earned $12,231,160 during its opening weekend at the U.S.

box office A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicket. ...

across 2,527 theaters. In the United Kingdom, it grossed £851,000 during its opening weekend. By its second weekend, the film had grossed £1,813,458 at the British box office. The film remained in theatrical exhibition through January 2010, totaling $25,486,040 in box office receipts in the United States. The film's final worldwide gross was $49,486,874.

Critical response

''The Fourth Kind'' received mainly negative reviews from critics. Critic

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

gave it one and a half stars out of four, comparing it unfavorably to ''

Paranormal Activity Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Not ...

'' and ''

The Blair Witch Project ''The Blair Witch Project'' is a 1999 American psychological horror film written, directed, and edited by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez. One of the most successful independent films of all time, it is a " found footage" pseudo-docume ...

'', though he did praise Jovovich's performance.

Stephen Holden Stephen Holden (born July 18, 1941) is an American writer, poet, and music and film critic. Biography Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963. He worked as a photo editor, staff writer, and eventually be ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' panned the film as "a tediously dragged-out supernatural thriller with few chills, no satisfying payoff and many conceptual loose ends."

Owen Gleiberman Owen Gleiberman (born February 24, 1959) is an American film critic who has been chief film critic for '' Variety'' magazine since May 2016, a title he shares with . Previously, Gleiberman wrote for ''Entertainment Weekly'' from 1990 until 2014. ...

of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' called the film "rote and listless," while

Richard Corliss Richard Nelson Corliss (March 6, 1944 – April 23, 2015) was an American film critic and magazine editor for ''Time''. He focused on movies, with occasional articles on other subjects. He was the former editor-in-chief of ''Film Comment ...

of ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' wrote: "You’d do better downloading an old

Art Bell Arthur William Bell III (June 17, 1945 – April 13, 2018) was an American broadcaster and author. He was the founder and the original host of the paranormal-themed radio program '' Coast to Coast AM'', which is syndicated on hundreds ...

show — say, the one about the guy who put an alien in his freezer — than investigating this evidence of subnormal activity." Ian Buckwalter of

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

likened the film to a "cinematic version of a

chain A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. A ...

e-mail hoax," summarizing: "Osunsanmi makes a valiant effort to keep the ruse going, and some of his gambits... are nice touches. But ''The Fourth Kind''s chief source of credibility is a presumably unintentional one: re-enactment dialogue so painfully stilted that the grainy "reality" video seems strikingly naturalistic in comparison."

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

reviewer Breanna Hare criticized ''The Fourth Kind'' for "marketing fiction as truth."

Mayor Denise Michels called it "Hollywood hooey". According to Michels, "people need to realize that this is a science fiction thriller". Michels also compared the film to ''The Blair Witch Project'', saying, "we're just hoping the message gets out that this is supposed to be for entertainment." According to the ''

Anchorage Daily News The ''Anchorage Daily News'' is a daily newspaper published by the Binkley Co., and based in Anchorage, Alaska. It is the most widely read newspaper and news website (adn.com) in the state of Alaska. The newspaper is headquartered in Anchorage, ...

'', "Nomeites didn't much like the film exploiting unexplained disappearances of Northwest Alaskans, most of whom likely perished due to exposure to the harsh climate, as science fiction nonsense. The Alaska press liked even less the idea of news stories about unexplained disappearances in the Nome area being used to hype some "kind" of fake documentary". Rick Groen of ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'' awarded the film a favorable 3 out of 4 star-rating, commending its clever construction and concluding: "When we figure it out, the solution seems thin and the puzzle disappointing. But that's the way with most puzzles and, besides, it's not really the point of ''The Fourth Kind''. Rather, the mission here is to demonstrate how, in this explosive age of dubious information, cynicism can be quickly trumped by gullibility." Michael Gingold of ''

Fangoria ''Fangoria'' is an internationally distributed American horror film fan magazine, in publication since 1979. It is published four times a year by Fangoria Publishing, LLC and is edited by Phil Nobile Jr. The magazine was originally released i ...

'' gave the film a favorable review, writing "for a viewer who walks in with the point of view that it’s all fictitious, and isn’t distracted by Osunsanmi’s editing-suite hocus-pocus, how does ''The Fourth Kind'' work on a basic creep-out level? Pretty well at a number of points." Jenna Busch of ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

'' also found the film effective, declaring it "one of the scariest things I've seen in years." Simon Abrams of ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yor ...

'' likened the film to an extended '' Unsolved Mysteries'' segment, noting that the film "let your imagination run wild, just as the grainy real footage lets you see whatever monsters you want amid a blizzard of static-y snow. Osunsanmi knows that everybody secretly wants to believe and when it comes to giving the people what they want, he does not disappoint."

Legacy

Despite receiving unfavorable reviews at the time of its release, ''The Fourth Kind'' has gone on to develop a

in the intervening years. Writer John Kenneth Muir wrote in ''Horror Films of 2000-2009'' (2023): "Many critics t the timefound the "dramatizations" of ''The Fourth Kind'' to be cumbersome, and the Hollywood scenes over-designed. Yet this is the crux of the issue; it's the point of the movie. It's a

leitmotif A leitmotif or () is a "short, recurring musical phrase" associated with a particular person, place, or idea. It is closely related to the musical concepts of ''idée fixe'' or ''motto-theme''. The spelling ''leitmotif'' is a partial angliciz ...

." Brendan Morrow, writing for ''

Bloody Disgusting Bloody Disgusting is an American independent multi-media company, which began as a horror genre-focused news website specializing in information services that covered various horror media. The company expanded into other media including podcast ...

'' in 2016, commended the film's ambiguous depiction of extraterrestrial abductions, noting that the film "manages to make alien abductions terrifying, something that only a handful of movies have accomplished. It does so by applying to aliens the same principles that are usually applied to

ghost In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

s: they are kept off screen and ambiguous, and the audience never once sees a single alien." While available for streaming on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

in 2023, the film went viral on social media platforms such as

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

, with users remarking that the film had "traumatised" them and left them unable to sleep. In a 2024 list compiled by '' IndieWire'', ''The Fourth Kind'' was ranked as the sixth-scariest alien film of all time.

References

Sources

* *

External links

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