10 Vitriolic Films Built On Biting Satire

Immigration is one of the most viciously antagonistic debates in politics nowadays and District 9 is one of the rare films that tackles the subject matter head on. How? With a sci-fi twist mixed with trappings of the apartheid system that plagued Africa.

In the not-too-distant future, a spacecraft filled with desperate, non-threatening aliens lands on Earth, prompting the South African government to seal them off in titular districts. In the process, this subjects them to brutal mistreatment by both the authorities and the locals. Much of the film's satire stems from the surrounding attitudes towards the refugees; in this regard we follow the bureaucrat Wilkus (Sharlto Copley) as he aims to document the creatures while keeping them at arm's length.

With the main character at first delighting in the murder and mutilation of aliens, District 9 reveals the damage caused by branding "the other" as an inferior species. When the role is reversed and Wikus van de Merwe finds himself on the receiving end of the abuse, it's hard to show sympathy for the man.

Ironically enough however, as the protagonist's human aspects slowly slip away, his sense of empathy returns. This places District 9 above many modern sci-fi films with its own trappings in xenophobia and mistrust.