DVD: District 9 (15), Neill Blomkamp (DVD/Blu-ray, 112 mins)

Reviewed,Ben Walsh
Friday 18 December 2009 01:00 GMT
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

In 1982 a spaceship full of aliens – unaffectionately referred to as "prawns" – are stranded above Johannesburg. Nearly 30 years later and 1.8 million of these unfortunate visitors have been segregated in a militarised slum called District 9; subsisting on cat food and exploited for their superior technology by the malevolent munitions company Multi-National United.

Blomkamp's savage and gross sci-fi/political satire, produced by Peter Jackson, centres on hapless Wikus (Sharlto Copley), a petty bureaucrat who has been asked by the MNU to supervise a military charge into District 9. While there he ingests a substance that turns our unlikely "hero" into a "prawn". District 9 is a smart and unsettling monster B-movie, where the monsters are all human.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in