Alien

A commercial towing vessel called the Nostromo is heading back to Earth when the ship's automated systems pick up a faint distress transmission from an uncharted moon. The crew diverts to investigate and a small team discovers a cavern filled with strange organic pods. One of those pods attaches to a crewmember, setting off a medical crisis that quickly becomes something far worse than anyone expected. Tension rises aboard the ship as the crew tries to contain an invisible, invasive threat, and fear spreads faster than the facts. The film keeps the focus tight on the confined ship and a shrinking number of characters as the danger escalates.

Directed by Ridley Scott and released in 1979, Alien was developed from a screenplay by Ronald Shusett and Dan O'Bannon. The cast includes Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, and John Hurt, and the production's creature and set design were central to its identity.

Alien won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and received multiple nominations from major industry groups, reflecting the film's technical achievements. Its practical creature effects and production design were singled out, and the movie helped raise the bar for what genre films could achieve on a technical level.

Critics praised Alien for its atmosphere, design, and pacing, with particular attention given to Sigourney Weaver's performance, which shifted expectations for women in science fiction. The movie blends themes of isolation, corporate indifference, and bodily violation with a slow-build sense of dread, and reviewers often highlight the film's deliberate use of sound and shadow to sustain tension.

Alien left a large mark on pop culture, thanks in part to the poster tagline "In space no one can hear you scream" and the unforgettable creature sequence that audiences still reference. Ripley became an influential female lead in action and sci-fi cinema, and the film's aesthetic and ideas have influenced countless filmmakers and spawned a long-running franchise across films, books, and games.