Movie Review: They Live (1988)

I’m starting my genre movie education late in life, but starting with They Live was a choice I don’t think I’ll regret. As a lifelong wrestling fan, casting Roddy Piper as the lead helped me connect from the get-go. It’s a stark anti-capitalist, anti-establishment movie, and it hit me a little differently knowing it was made decades ago. I still feel the daily tug of “OBEY” and “CONSUME” every time I see an Instagram ad on my phone.

The alley fight could be its own mini-movie. Or a Wrestlemania main event. All Nada wants is for Frank to put the glasses on and look, and Frank fights him on it like it’s the biggest ask in the world. I was frustrated right along with Nada. Half of me wanted the fight to end and half of me wanted it to keep going, because that frustration was building into something, and I could feel it. Movies today build tension but they don’t let it sit long enough to actually annoy you. This one did, on purpose, and by the time Frank finally looks, the payoff hits so much harder because of it.

I went in a little thrown by how little we’re given in terms of backstory. I’m used to modern movies explaining everything and leaving nothing to interpretation. I came out realizing that was the point. My own imagination was able to play a part in the story rather than having every detail spoon fed to me. The gaps are part of what makes it work.

While Carpenter leaves elements of the backstory and characters to the imagination, he was crystal clear about the social commentary. I get how some might think “CONSUME” and “OBEY” was a little too on-the-nose, but honestly, being any less blunt would have softened the message too much. I think Carpenter realizes the stakes are too high to not attack the problem head-on. So, yeah, you can laugh at how on-the-nose it was, but you can’t argue about the point he was trying to make.

Since this is the first of many in my journey of discovering genre films, it will be my measuring stick moving forward.

Originally posted on Letterboxd.