Species

Friday, September 16 - Saturday, September 17, 2016

“There is a ruthless alien creature stalking the streets of Los Angeles in the form of a beautiful 21-year-old woman. If she finds someone to mate with, human life on this planet might be destroyed. That’s the premise of SPECIES … In pursuit of the alien is a team of scientists and troubleshooters who want to prevent the alien from mating by incinerating her. But first they have to find her. If SPECIES sounds ridiculous, it is — though as ridiculous science fiction films go, this one has its moments. The picture’s disturbing and intriguing beginning shows Ben Kingsley, as a very serious, very bald scientist, presiding over the cyanide-gas execution of a 12- year-old girl. It’s not a human girl, but the product of a human embryo crossed with DNA material sent to Earth by space aliens.

The alien girl, Sil, gets away, boards a train, undergoes a horrendous metamorphosis and the next thing you know her tentacles are pulling a female railroad worker into her body. The absorption complete, Sil emerges as a sexually mature woman (Natasha Henstridge) ready to mate with anything. The handful of people out to stop her include Kingsley’s scientist, two other scientists, an ’empath’ (Forest Whitaker) and a hit man (Michael Madsen).” –San Francisco Chronicle

• Country USA
• Year 1995
• Running Time 108 minutes
• Director Roger Donaldson

IFC Center does not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, as sensitivities vary from person to person. In addition to the synopses, trailers and other links on our website, further information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on Common Sense Media, IMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com as well as through general internet searches.