District 9

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Year:	2009
Country of origin:	USA / New Zealand / Canada / South Africa
Director:	Neill Blomkamp
Genre:	Alien apartheid tract
Starring:	Sharlto Copley
Rating:	5/5
IMDB link:	http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1136608/
Tagline:	For humans only. Non-humans banned!
Favourite line:	"Get your fokkin' tentacle out of my face!"

Neill Blomkamp's searing alien apartheid tract is an uncompromising study in excellence.

The plot:
In 1982, a gigantic alien spacecraft hoves into view, though not over Manahattan or Washington or L.A. as you may expect, but over Johannesburg. After no signs of communication or life are forthcoming, the ship is boarded and, within, a population of malnourished, terrified aliens are found.
Ferried to Earth, to begin with the aliens are given the same rights as humans - health care, benefits etc - but soon the people of Johannesburg begin to resent the 'prawns' and demand that they be removed. Interred in an area known as District 9, the area quickly falls into neglect and the aliens are forced to live in slum-like conditions. Soon, though, even this isn't good enough, and a plan is hatched to move District 9 some 200 miles from Johannesburg, forcefully evicting the aliens from their homes. Put in charge of the operation is Wikus Van De Merwe (Sharlto Copley), an officious, bureaucratic oaf. During an eviction, Wikus discovers some alien artifacts, and is sprayed in the face by a black, unknown substance. Hours later, Wikus is transforming, seemingly becoming one of the 'prawns' and, suddenly, his loyalties switch as his own government hunt him down to use as a weapon.
Unwanted by his wife or his family, Wikus flees to District 9......

Shot in a documentary style, this hurls you into the heart of the action, Blomkamp rendering every shot with an 'in the moment' energy that is breathless.
The camera takes in all it sees, never flinching from the degrading nature of both the conditions the aliens live in and the awful treatment that is meted out to them by meat-headed humans.
Sharlto Copley's Wikus is really put through the ringer and delivers an emotional, highly-wrought performance that sets the nerves on edge.
The movie is also notorious for courting some controversy amongst Nigerian communities with its depiction of the Johannesburg Nigerians as criminals and eaters of alien flesh but, given the political awareness of the movie, it seems unlikely the makers are a bunch of daft racists.
Packing a powerful punch, this is a masterful science fiction film, doing what all good sci-fi does: dealing with real-life issues through the conceit of sci-fi trappings.
Just excellent.