Movie · 2005 · Adventure, Thriller, Science Fiction · 1h 57m · PG-13 · English
Curator score: 4.2/10 (900.9K ratings)
They're already here.
Overview
Ray Ferrier is a divorced dockworker and less-than-perfect father. Soon after his ex-wife and her new husband drop off his teenage son and young daughter for a rare weekend visit, a strange and powerful lightning storm touches down.
Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning, Miranda Otto, Justin Chatwin, Tim Robbins, Rick Gonzalez, Yul Vazquez, Lenny Venito, Lisa Ann Walter, Ann Robinson, Gene Barry, David Alan Basche, Roz Abrams, Michael Brownlee, Camillia Monet, Marlon Young, John Eddins, Peter Gerety, David Harbour, Miguel Antonio Ferrer
Where to watch
Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential, Starz, Philo
Curator Review
Verdict
A brutally effective alien-invasion nightmare that plays like a post-9/11 panic attack with blockbuster scale. It’s at its best when it stays in survival mode: chaotic, terrifying, and relentlessly immersive, even if the character work is uneven and the ending divides viewers.
Best for
Viewers who want a tense, high-intensity sci-fi thriller
Fans of Spielberg’s spectacle with a darker, more anxious edge
People interested in invasion stories shaped by real-world fear and catastrophe
Audiences who like big set pieces that feel genuinely frightening
Skip if
You want warm, character-driven Spielberg
You prefer clean plotting and emotionally tidy endings
You dislike frantic, distressing disaster imagery
You’re looking for a light or crowd-pleasing alien adventure
Overview
Steven Spielberg turns H.G. Wells into a ferocious modern survival story, and the result is less a traditional invasion movie than a sustained state of dread. The early stretch is especially strong: ordinary spaces collapse into chaos with frightening speed, and the film’s visual and sound design make every escape feel desperate and unstable.
Worth noting
Tom Cruise’s frantic, self-preserving energy fits the material, while Dakota Fanning gives the movie its emotional anchor. The family drama is functional rather than deep, but it gives the panic something human to cling to as the world falls apart around them.
Bottom line
The film’s reputation has always been tied to its ending, which softens the relentless terror that comes before it. Even so, the first two-thirds are among the most effective and unsettling blockbuster filmmaking of the 2000s, and the movie remains a major reference point for post-9/11 sci-fi anxiety.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Patrick Willems (4★) · 5389 likes
Back in my day we had proper summer blockbusters that were determined to absolutely traumatize children
James (Schaffrillas) (4★) · 3550 likes
Why tf did they have to show the aliens onscreen, I was actually taking them seriously before then 💀
Mary Conti · 3418 likes
When 9/11 happened, I was in middle school. I was 13. When the first plane hit, I was just getting settled into second period. At about 9:15, the principal turned on the speaker and delivered the news. But we didn't hear about the planes, because at that point, there wasn't enough information to know about the planes in the first place. All we heard were the buzzwords: "Terrorists" "Attack" "Explosion" So the school was to be evacuated for safety precautions,… more When 9/11 happened, I was in middle school. I was 13. When the first plane hit, I was just getting settled into second period. At about 9:15, the principal turned on the speaker and delivered the news. But we didn't hear about the planes, because at that point, there wasn't enough information to know about the planes in the first place. All we heard were the buzzwords: "Terrorists" "Attack" "Explosion" So the school was to be evacuated for safety precautions,… more
Erik 🎼 (3.5★) · 2328 likes
steven spielberg: i guess i’ll do this alien movie now
john williams: i have to go as hard as possible in every scene or i’ll die
Josh Lewis (5★) · 2208 likes
One of the medium's foremost masters of screen space has a panic attack, a full-blown psychotic breakdown when confronted with the post-9/11 horror, confusion and paranoia that comes with the realization that our space no longer feels safe. An idea he lets so viscerally and overwhelmingly drive his big-budget, movie-star-led blockbuster adaptation of H.G. Wells’ seminal anti-colonialist alien invasion sci-fi masterpiece that everyone who went into this thinking “hey, the Close Encounters and Jurassic Park guy has a new movie!”… more One of the medium's foremost masters of screen space has a panic attack, a full-blown psychotic breakdown when confronted with the post-9/11 horror, confusion and paranoia that comes with the realization that our space no longer feels safe. An idea he lets so viscerally and overwhelmingly drive his big-budget, movie-star-led blockbuster adaptation of H.G. Wells’ seminal anti-colonialist alien invasion sci-fi masterpiece that everyone who went into this thinking “hey, the Close Encounters and Jurassic Park guy has a new movie!”… more