Parents' Guide to

The Fourth Kind

By Jeffrey Anderson, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Realistic alien abduction tale too violent/chilling for kids

Movie PG-13 2009 98 minutes
The Fourth Kind Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 14+

Based on 9 parent reviews

Ruben H.
Ruben H. Parent of 3, 10, 11 and 13-year-old
March 29, 2018
age 14+
ETHAN G.
ETHAN G. Adult
February 23, 2018
age 14+

Very Stressful Gets You Paranoid And may give you nightmares

Wait 2 stars ?!? I Loved this movie but it was very stressfull to watch it was sweating so much XD this movie what it does it makes you paranoid about alien makes you believe and the creepy things is it could be real and there are some very disturbing scenes in this movie of alien abdocution the owl in it is fucking Creepy some scenes really disturbed me in this but I recommend it !

This title has:

Too much violence
See all 9 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Milla Jovovich appears as herself in THE FOURTH KIND, explaining that the events in the film are based on real events. She informs viewers that she'll be portraying Dr. Abigail Tyler, a sleep specialist in Nome, Alaska, who begins experiencing disturbing phenomena during her interviews with patients. Filmed re-creations of these sessions use actors as well as video footage of the allegedly real sessions. Director Olatunde Osunsanmi also appears as himself, interviewing a haggard, wasted-looking woman who's identified as the real Dr. Abigail Tyler, who also tells her own story. Through both the "real" and re-created footage, viewers follow Tyler's story as she discovers the truth about alien abductions and begins to suffer terrible experiences of her own.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (9):
Kids say (27):

A good deal of time will be spent trying to determine just how real everything is in The Fourth Kind. Skeptics will have a good time tearing the film apart, while believers will be swayed by the film's presentation. Frankly, without the "based on true events" framing and the video footage of the supposedly real incidents, there's not much here; in other words, if this had been presented as a straight fiction film about a doctor and some alien abductions, it would have been a yawner.

None of the characters really comes to life, and the film spends too much time dangling and withdrawing its details, unable or unwilling to prove or disprove anything. As a result, there's very little mystery and no sequence of events that leads to anything; the horror is ultimately too intangible and indefinite to be very terrifying. Still, the movie sometimes manages some briefly effective scares and some moody atmosphere, and it may be an effective "check your brain at the door" kind of chiller for some audiences.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about whether or not they think the events in the film really happened. Are the things presented in the movie necessarily factual? How could they have been faked? How can you tell what's fact and fiction in situations like this?

  • If the movie is a put-on, what is the effect? And what are the consequences?

  • Why are some characters ready to believe that aliens exist, while others deny it?

  • Why would aliens be interested in abducting and experimenting onhumans? Are there any similar circumstances in which humans behave thesame way toward other species?

Movie Details

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