They Live

Play trailer

2:00

They Live

R

1988

1h 33m

Sci-Fi

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

87%

Tomatometer

75 Reviews

80%

Popcornmeter

25,000+ Ratings

Nada (Roddy Piper), a wanderer without meaning in his life, discovers a pair of sunglasses capable of showing the world the way it truly is. As he walks the streets of Los Angeles, Nada notices that both the media and the government are comprised of subliminal messages meant to keep the population subdued, and that most of the social elite are skull-faced aliens bent on world domination. With this shocking discovery, Nada fights to free humanity from the mind-controlling aliens.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Stream Now

Critics Consensus

A politically subversive blend of horror and sci fi, They Live is an underrated genre film from John Carpenter.

Read Critics Reviews

Chris Bennion

The Times (UK)

02/02/2024

It is a big, silly barrel of fun, with a delirious, tongue-in-cheek script...

Go to Full Review

Phil Hoad

Guardian

10/25/2018

4/5

The film was was responding to the start of the US rust belt and Reagan-era consumerism, but its themes of working-class subjugation and omnipresent media control have only become more pressing.

Go to Full Review

Jason Bailey

Flavorwire

02/17/2017

Carpenter's primary objective was to make a tough action flick, which he does; it fits snugly into his filmography's subset of urban mayhem movies (alongside 'Escape from New York,' 'Assault on Precinct 13,' and parts of 'Big Trouble in Little China').

Go to Full Review

John Ferguson

Radio Times

09/13/2024

3/5

Piper handles the action scenes better than he deals with dialogue, but he is well supported by Keith David and Meg Foster.

Go to Full Review

Dennis Harvey

48 Hills

10/16/2023

[It] provides moments of catharsis, not to mention a measure of gloating-at-somebody-else’s-trainwreck satisfaction.

Go to Full Review

Patrick Cavanaugh

The Wolfman Cometh

09/22/2023

5/5

Both outlandish and prescient, Roddy Piper exudes charm and director Carpenter is fully confident in this crowd-pleasing, sci-fi dystopia.

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

Jason

12/29/2023

one of the best movies ever made probably more true than we know

See more

Cody

06/22/2022

A True Classic that rings true today.

See more

Jack F

@MovieFan111 Dec 9

Well I only watched it once. I know it's a classic and all that, but I didn't like it all that much. It's forgettable as well.

See more

Bry W

Dec 7

Terrible casting, acting, and directing on a horrendous script, ruined a promising idea. I'll check out the short story it was based on.

See more

Brook B

Dec 6

This is not a movie. It is a documentary.

See more

ill 3

Nov 20

Just amazing, fun, great acting, interesting. I wasn't bored at anytime watching this movie and found it stupidly fun

See more

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

John Carpenter

Director

Roddy Piper

Nada

Keith David

Frank

Meg Foster

Holly

George "Buck" Flower

Drifter

Peter Jason

Gilbert

View more videos

Cyborg

22%

31%

Cyborg

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Cyborg

Alien Nation

52%

44%

Alien Nation

Watchlist

The Fly II

32%

24%

The Fly II

Watchlist

Freejack

29%

25%

Freejack

Watchlist

The Borrower

30%

25%

The Borrower

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

They Live: Trailer 1

2:00

View more videos

View more photos

Synopsis

Nada (Roddy Piper), a wanderer without meaning in his life, discovers a pair of sunglasses capable of showing the world the way it truly is. As he walks the streets of Los Angeles, Nada notices that both the media and the government are comprised of subliminal messages meant to keep the population subdued, and that most of the social elite are skull-faced aliens bent on world domination. With this shocking discovery, Nada fights to free humanity from the mind-controlling aliens.

Director: John Carpenter
Producer: Larry J. Franco
Screenwriter: John Carpenter
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Production Co: Alive Films, Larry Franco Productions
Rating: R
Genre: Sci-Fi
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 23, 1988, Original
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Sep 3, 2023
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 5, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $12.3M
Runtime: 1h 33m
Sound Mix: Surround

Most Popular at Home Now