In deep space, the crew of a space freighter is awakened early from their cryogenic sleep chambers to investigate mysterious signals from a nearby planet. The signals seem to be calls for help, and when the crew lands they discover an abandoned alien spacecraft with the remains of a large creature and a chamber filled with eggs. When one of the crew members is attacked by the creature, the crew realizes they've unknowingly brought terror onto their own spacecraft. From Sigourney Weaver's iconic, gender-nonconforming performance as Ripley to designer H.R. Giger’s intersex “Mother” organism, Alien remains ripe for radical queer readings.
This screening will be preceded by a lecture from Dr. John Warren Huntley, Associate Professor of Geological Sciences at the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Science on Screen® is an initiative of the Coolidge Corner Theatre, with major support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.