The Thing is a 2011 American science fiction horror film directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr., written by Eric Heisserer, and starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Joel Edgerton, Ulrich Thomsen, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, and Eric Christian Olsen. It is a direct prequel to the 1982 film of the same name by John Carpenter, which was an adaptation of the 1938 novella Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell. It tells the story of a team of scientists on a Norwegian Antarctic research station who discover a parasitic alien buried deep in the ice, realizing too late that it is still alive.
Plot[]
In the winter of 1982, an alien spacecraft and a nearby alien body are discovered buried in Antarctic ice by members of the Norwegian research station "Thule". American paleontologist Kate Lloyd is recruited by Dr. Sander Halvorson and his assistant Adam Finch to investigate. They fly to Thule Station in a helicopter where Kate meets pilots Sam Carter, Derek Jameson, and crewman Griggs. Arriving at Thule, they meet station chief Edvard Wolner, along with his team of Juliette, Karl, Jonas, Olav, Henrik, Colin, Peder, Lars, and Lars' dog.
The body is excavated in a block of ice and returned to Thule Station. During a party, Derek witnesses the Thing burst from the ice block. The team split into groups to search for the alien, they 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 monstrous creature and attacks Olav, causing the helicopter to crash in the mountains. Kate discovers dental fillings in a bloodied shower and tells the team that the alien can assimilate and imitate its victims and that it is now living among them. Edvard orders the team to drive to the closest base; however, Juliette and Kate want to prevent anyone from leaving. As she lures Kate into an abandoned room to look for 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 resolve to quarantine themselves until the threat is eliminated.
That night, Carter and Jameson stagger back from the helicopter crash. Suspected to be an alien, they are imprisoned in isolation. As the alien does not assimilate inorganic material, Kate proposes everyone to be checked for dental fillings. The test implicates Sander, Edvard, Adam, and Colin, who have no metallic fillings.
Lars is abducted while going to fetch Carter and Jameson for testing. Carter and Jameson break into the main building, shooting Peder dead and puncturing his flamethrower tank, causing an explosion that knocks Edvard unconscious. When brought to the main room, Edvard violently transforms into the Thing, infects Jonas, kills Jameson, and assimilates Adam to become Split Face. Kate burns Jonas and Jameson before they can fully transform, then she and Carter burn Split Face before pursuing Sander, who had been assimilated.
The Sander-Thing drives in a snowcat and goes to the spaceship, pursued by Kate and Carter. The spacecraft suddenly activates, the two become separated, with Kate falling through the ship and Carter proceeding through the main hatch. Kate encounters the monstrous Sander. She kills it with a grenade which shuts down the ship's engines. Kate finds Carter and notices that he is missing his left earring. Carter indicates the wrong ear so Kate burns the Carter-Thing preventing its escape and moves to the second snowcat before driving away to the Russian station.
The next morning, Thule's helicopter and pilot Matias return. Matias views the ruined station and the husk of Split Face with horror. Colin has gone into the radio comms room, where he is shown to have committed suicide with a straight razor. Lars, now revealed to have survived uninfected hiding in the building where Derek and Carter attacked him, demands at gunpoint that Matias show his teeth. Lars' dog, thought dead, emerges and runs away. Realizing that the dog is a Thing, Lars orders Matias to give chase in the helicopter.
Cast[]
- Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Kate Lloyd, an American vertebrate paleontologist graduate from Columbia University: In order to be different from Kurt Russell as the 1982 film's protagonist, R.J. MacReady, Kate Lloyd was written to have similar traits as the character Ellen Ripley from the Alien film series.
- Joel Edgerton as Sam Carter, an American helicopter pilot and Vietnam War veteran running a supply operation to the bases. He and his two co-pilots are left in the dark as to why they are there and what is the mysterious thing the scientists have found.
- Ulrich Thomsen as Dr. Sander Halvorson, the arrogant Danish leader of alien research. He orders the team to obtain a sample of the recently discovered creature despite Kate's warnings. Norwegian actor Dennis Storhoi was initially hired to play the role, but was replaced by Thomsen after a week of filming. This required some digital effects work in post, as Thomsen's face was put on Storhoi's body for scenes that had already been shot with the other actor.
- Eric Christian Olsen as Adam Finch, a young American scientist working as Dr. Sander's research assistant who invites Kate to the Norwegian base.
- Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Derek Jameson, an American helicopter co-pilot and also a Vietnam veteran who is Carter's best friend.
- Paul Braunstein as Griggs, a crew-chief member of the American helicopter transport team.
- Trond Espen Seim as Edvard Wolner, a notable Norwegian geologist who is the station commander and an old friend of Sander.
- Kim Bubbs as Juliette, a French geologist who is part of Edvard's team.
- Jørgen Langhelle as Lars, an ex-soldier who works as the dog keeper of the Norwegian base. He is the only member of the Norwegian base who does not speak English. Lars is also revealed to be the Norwegian shooter in the original film.
- Kristofer Hivju as Jonas, a nervous but friendly Norwegian polar ice researcher.
- Jan Gunnar Røise as Olav, a Norwegian Snowcat vehicle driver and guide.
- Stig Henrik Hoff as Peder, a Norwegian rifle-toting camp member who is Edvard's right-hand man.
- Jo Adrian Haavind as Henrik, another Norwegian base member who assists the alien research team.
- Carsten Bjørnlund as Karl, a Norwegian geologist also part of Edvard's team.
- Jonathan Lloyd Walker as Colin, an eccentric English radio operator.
- Ole Martin Aune Nilsen as Matias, the helicopter pilot of the Norwegian base currently in a mission to restock kerosene at Halley. Matias, like Lars, is revealed to be aboard the Norwegian helicopter in the 1982 film.
- Michael Brown as Hank, a security guard and a bit part who introduces Adam and Sander to Kate.