The Thing

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The Thing

R

Released Oct 14, 2011

1h 43m

Horror

Sci-Fi

Mystery & Thriller

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

34%

Tomatometer

170 Reviews

43%

Popcornmeter

25,000+ Ratings

After Norwegian researchers discover an alien ship buried in the ice, paleontologist Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) joins the team at the isolated Arctic outpost to investigate. She finds an organism that appears to have perished in the crash eons ago but, in fact, is about to awake. Freed from its icy prison, the insidious life-form goes on the attack. Paranoia spreads like wildfire among the crew as they fight to survive against a creature that assumes the shapes of its victims.

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Critics Consensus

It serves the bare serviceable minimum for a horror flick, but The Thing is all boo-scares and a slave to the far superior John Carpenter version.

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Sara Michelle Fetters

MovieFreak.com

It reduces things to nothing more than a highlight reel of terror, none of it particularly scary even if what is being presented is done so with a fair amount of skill.

Rated: 2/4

Jan 27, 2012

Full Review

Charlotte O'Sullivan

London Evening Standard

This isn't the real Thing; keep it at bay.

Rated: 2/5

Dec 2, 2011

Full Review

Phelim O'Neill

Guardian

Whatever good intentions were behind this prequel to John Carpenter's 1982 classic, the sloppy execution renders them moot.

Rated: 2/5

Dec 1, 2011

Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

It’s actually a prequel to the 1982 movie, leading one to wonder why they didn’t more accurately name it The Thing: The Beginning, The Thing: The Early Days or even I Was a Teenage Thing.

Rated: 2/4

Apr 27, 2023

Full Review

Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

Van Heijningen’s new film can’t decide if it wants to elaborate on Carpenter’s version or pay homage to it, and that indecision is where the fault lies.

Rated: 2/4

Mar 7, 2023

Full Review

Keith Garlington

Keith & the Movies

This prequel to John Carpenter’s 1982 horror classic manages to capture enough of the shocks and paranoia of its predecessor to be successful.

Rated: 3/5

Aug 25, 2022

Full Review

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Jolin S

Okay all these negative critics need to back off. This movie is giving us a good amount of information leading us up to Carpenters classic Thing movie. I enjoyed it especially the special effects/CGI. I mean really how can you not love the creatures the Thing turns into, and how about the way the ending rolls right into Carpenters movie. If you, like me, love watching sci-fi/horror movies then plug this one in, sit back and enjoy them.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/19/25

Full Review

Marcus V

É um filme que tenta, mas infelizmente falha. Acertos: Os personagens têm mais tempo de desenvolvimento, oq faz a gente simpatizar e se preocupar com eles; Mais pessoas aumentam a quantidade de suspeitos; A Coisa é menos sútil, oq demonstra q ela aprende com os erros; e a nave foi uma mudança interessante de cenário. Erros: O desenvolvimento dos personagens não se aplica a todos, têm alguns com quem a gente não se importa tanto; o filme é mto mais voltado pra ação, oq tira grande parte da tensão, um pecado pra um filme de terror; o CGI É HORROROSO! muitas vezes não dá pra entender oq a coisa tá virando e em muitos momentos q gente sente q é tudo falso; E a fotógrafa é bem genérica. Agora oq mais me desapontou nesse filme, foi q ia ter o piloto da nave. Nos vídeos dos bastidores têm toda a dedicação nos efeitos práticos e o visual de um alien IRADO! Q foi reduzido a uma parede de Tetris.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

04/16/25

Full Review

Sebastian L

Not exactly terrible but doesn't seem to know where to go or what the purpose of the story is. Winstead manages to portray a protagonist with surprising depth considering the material. A very unnecessary film indeed.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

04/15/25

Full Review

Alexandria M

Quit freaking killing animals. If you can't make a horror movie without murdering an innocent animal you just suck

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

04/08/25

Full Review

Audience Member

As the 1982 iteration further matures into a modern horror classic, this 2011 prequel is still a thoroughly rousing, frozen fright flick with the always awesome Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Joel Edgerton!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

04/07/25

Full Review

Judson E

The cgi was terrible in the later half, the writing was also terrible. It had one good moment when they tried to test everyone, it felt like a True scene from the Thing we love, but overall this movie is sadly a poor attempt at retelling the story. The opening scene is also extremely offputting, corny dialgue with an over the top random earthquake.. how did they get out of that massive hole? what are the odds an earthquake happens right when theyre passing this buried creature? It's bad writing. One thing I did like is that it used some of the enemy types from The Thing video game which is a good game with a better story, but I appreciate the nod to the lore. honestly I never want to watch this again.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

04/06/25

Full Review

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Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.

Director

Mary Elizabeth Winstead

Dr. Kate Lloyd

Joel Edgerton

Carter

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje

Jameson

Trond Espen Seim

Edvard Wolner

Ulrich Thomsen

Dr. Sander Halvorson

The Thing: Official Clip - The Thing Reveals Itself

2:33

The Thing: Official Clip - Everything's Fine

2:22

The Thing: Official Clip - Juliette Transforms

2:39

The Thing: Official Clip - Alien Autopsy

2:35

The Thing: Official Clip - Let's See Your Teeth

2:58

The Thing: Official Clip - How I Knew You Were Human

2:15

The Thing: Official Clip - Kate Confronts the Thing

2:52

The Thing: Official Clip - They Killed Lars!

1:33

The Thing: Official Clip - Trapped in the Kitchen

2:49

The Thing: Official Clip - We Find It, We Kill It

2:30

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Synopsis

After Norwegian researchers discover an alien ship buried in the ice, paleontologist Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) joins the team at the isolated Arctic outpost to investigate. She finds an organism that appears to have perished in the crash eons ago but, in fact, is about to awake. Freed from its icy prison, the insidious life-form goes on the attack. Paranoia spreads like wildfire among the crew as they fight to survive against a creature that assumes the shapes of its victims.

Director: Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.
Producer: Marc Abraham, Eric Newman
Screenwriter: Eric Heisserer
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Production Co: Strike Entertainment
Rating: R (Gore|Disturbing Images|Language|Strong Creature Violence)
Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 14, 2011, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 10, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $16.9M
Runtime: 1h 43m
Sound Mix: SDDS, Dolby SRD, DTS

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