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The Thing
When paleontologist Kate Lloyd travels to an isolated outpost in Antarctica for the expedition of a lifetime, she joins an international team that unearths a remarkable discovery. Their elation quickly turns to fear as they realize that their experiment has freed a mysterious being from its frozen prison. Paranoia spreads like an epidemic as a creature that can mimic anything it touches will pit human against human as it tries to survive and flourish in this spine-tingling thriller.
2011 · Directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. · 103 min · Horror · Science Fiction · Mystery · Screenplay in the scene database · 11 frames
Tagline
It's not human. Yet.
Plot
In the winter of 1982, members of the Norwegian research station "Thule" discover an alien spacecraft and a nearby alien body buried in the Antarctic ice. Dr. Sander Halvorson and his assistant Adam Finch recruit American paleontologist Kate Lloyd to investigate. Together with pilots Sam Carter, Derek Jameson, and crewman Griggs, they fly to Thule Station and meet station chief Edvard Wolner, along with his team of Juliette, Karl, Jonas, Olav, Henrik, Colin, Peder, Lars, and Lars' dog.
The body, encased in a block of ice, is transported to Thule Station. While the team celebrates their historic find, Jameson witnesses the Thing burst from the ice block. The team splits up to search for the alien and find Lars' dog dead. The alien drags Henrik into itself, spattering blood on Olav. The group kills the alien by igniting spilled fuel beneath it. An autopsy reveals that the alien's cells were copying Henrik's. Olav falls ill.
As Carter, Jameson, and Griggs are taking off in the helicopter to take Olav to a medical facility, Griggs transforms into a Thing and attacks Olav, causing the helicopter to crash in the mountains. Kate discovers dental fillings in a bloodied shower and alerts the team that the alien can assimilate and imitate its victims to hide among them. Edvard orders the team to drive to the closest base; however, Juliette and Kate want to prevent anyone from leaving. After going with Kate to get the keys to the vehicles, Juliette transforms and attempts to kill her. Kate escapes and the Juliette-Thing kills Karl. Lars kills the Juliette-Thing with a flamethrower and the team resolves to quarantine themselves until the threat is eliminated.
Plot summary from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
Crew
- Written by: Eric Heisserer
- Cinematography: Michel Abramowicz
- Edited by: Jono Griffith, Peter Boyle, Julian Clarke
- Music: Marco Beltrami
- Production design: Sean Haworth
- Produced by: Eric Newman, Marc Abraham
Cast
- Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Kate Lloyd
- Joel Edgerton as Carter
- Ulrich Thomsen as Dr. Sander Halvorson
- Eric Christian Olsen as Adam Finch
- Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Jameson
- Paul Braunstein as Griggs
- Trond Espen Seim as Edvard Wolner
- Kim Bubbs as Juliette
- Jørgen Langhelle as Lars
- Jan Gunnar Røise as Olav
Production
- Country: United States of America
- Language: English, Norwegian, Danish
- Studios: Universal Pictures, Morgan Creek Entertainment, Strike Entertainment
- Budget: $35,000,000
- Box office: $31,505,287
- Themes: based on novel or book, paranoia, halloween, research station, alien life-form, prequel, survival, antarctica, survival horror, blizzard
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More by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.
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