Extinction

"We were not here first."

2018 1h 36m EN

😐

6.1

MID

★6.1TMDB · 2,082

ActionDramaScience FictionThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A chief mechanic at a factory, haunted by apocalyptic nightmares, becomes a hero when Earth is invaded by a mysterious army bent on destruction.

“We were not here first.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Michael Peña
Peter
Lizzy Caplan
Alice
Israel Broussard
Miles
Mike Colter
David
Lex Shrapnel
Ray
Emma Booth
Samantha
Amelia Crouch
Hanna
Erica Tremblay
Lucy

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Ben Young
Writers: Spenser Cohen, Brad Caleb Kane, Eric Heisserer
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

Released 8 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Ben Young, shot by Pedro Luque. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Andrew Grush. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Matt Ramsey shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Michael Peña and Lizzy Caplan and Israel Broussard carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "We were not here first.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt3201640 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Ben Young directs. Pedro Luque behind the camera. Andrew Grush scores. Matt Ramsey cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 8 years ago.
2Directed by Ben Young, shot by Pedro Luque. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Andrew Grush. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Matt Ramsey shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Michael Peña and Lizzy Caplan and Israel Broussard carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "We were not here first.".
7IMDB entry: tt3201640 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Classified under 8 themes, including "alien", "space", "mechanic", "alien invasion".

The technical file

Cinematography: Pedro Luque
Original score: Andrew Grush
Editing: Matt Ramsey
Production design: Alan Gilmore
Costume design: Pierre Bohanna
Makeup / hair: Jasmina Banović
Sound: Joel Dougherty
Runtime: 96 min · 1h 36m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $1,451,864
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Extinction (2018)

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Ben Young

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Kamurai2020-10-03
★ 7/10
Really good watch, could watch again, and can recommend. A big fan of Michael Peña ("Ant-Man") and Lizzy Caplan ("Mean Girls"), and while both are (more) traditionally comedic actors, this definitely shows off their range. While the production value is actually quite good, some of the choices at least give a nod to older b movies. The invaders' armor, in particular, looks unnecessarily ridiculous. Almost everything that makes this movie really good though is trapped behind spoiler walls as there is a mystery aspect to the movie: even in the premise.
Peter McGinn2021-07-21
★ 6/10
I tend to give westerns and science fiction a bit more slack before giving up on them, because so many films in those genres are so bad, so I stuck with Extinction, barely. For one thing, I had trouble swallowing the idea that Peter, the guy who later risks his life selflessly, constantly and under extreme duress for his family, would also push his family away in such a cavalier fashion early on because of bad dreams. And in exploring his life and job and friends and — whatever — there wasn’t much of particular interest there either. The big draw is the fact that these nightmares are significant and will play an important role in events. But guess what? Did they play an important role? I figured we were seeing the predictive dreams so he could use them to explain what was happening or even assist in their survival. But it turns out his nightmare scenes were out of sequence and, let’s face it, not very helpful to them. So what was their purpose? I had smaller, more desultory questions also. For example, in this age of AI androids and futuristic spaceships, what is the deal of Peter having to reach inside a warehouse garage door to press a button to close it? Really, they got no farther than that in overhead door technology? But I made it through the film, and recommend it as light entertainment. It even has a couple of interesting plot angles unseen at the outset.