Listicle: 10 movie aliens we’re spacing out over

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3 Body Problem (2024). Uh oh. The San Ti have figured out a way to take over Earth, with our help too. Chinese science-fiction author Liu Cixin’s books set up a near-impossible challenge for the human race. There are mass hallucinations, a countdown, a hyperrealistic video game, armies getting ready. The aliens can hibernate for centuries and also assume human form. What do they really look like? “You wouldn’t like it,” one says. Scared yet?

In Arrival (2016), the aliens offer to help humanity because they’ll need us 3,000 years later.

Arrival (2016). The ones with the biggest handwriting ever. Humans who manage to read the palindromic phrases written out in circular splotches end up with their own perception of time being altered. They can see (and manipulate) bits of their future. The aliens claim they want to help humanity because, in 3,000 years, they will need human beings to help them out. Time travel, a puzzle and a mystery. What’s not to love?

In Signs (2002), the aliens are defeated by, of all things, glasses of tap water.

Signs (2002). If your kryptonite is water, why invade a planet that is 3/4th ocean? The aliens who gave everyone a fright with their crop circles in this M Night Shyamalan film clearly didn’t think things through. They looked scary and communicated in an eerie rattling sound. But are you really an intelligent race when a few glasses of tap water can destroy you? We love the spoof in Scary Movie 3.

In Roswell (1999-2002) the aliens are hot, flaunt superpowers, and have human emotions.

Roswell (1999-2002). Hot aliens with superpowers and human emotions. No wonder the show was such a hit with young adults. The tale of three young aliens who get left behind on Earth after their UFO crashed in 1947, is mostly about keeping their identity a secret, falling in love and baffling doctors. This is the show that made everyone fall in love with the music of Dido, with the title track, Here with Me.

Blind aliens who kill anything they could hear spell disaster for Earthlings, in A Quiet Place (2018).

A Quiet Place (2018). Sssh. Blind aliens are here, killing anything they can hear. How might a young family survive in a postapocalyptic America? They use sign language to communicate, and try to keep their toddlers on mute. Oddly, the aliens’ strength is also their weakness: High-pitched noises hurt them. So, killing them is as simple as putting a cochlear implant on a microphone. Smart, and also silly.

Stranger Things’ demogorgons were not from another planet but a parallel dimension, the Upside Down.

Stranger Things (2016-). Okay, so the demogorgons are not exactly from another planet – just from a parallel dimension, the Upside Down. But they’re scary enough to freak out the little town of Hawkins. Fun fact: The demogorgons are merely following the orders of Vecna, a monster created by a power-hungry scientist who’s very much human.

An alien with a sense of style and dramatic exits – that’s what Jean Jacket is in Nope (2022).

Nope (2022). Who doesn’t love an alien with a sense of style? The weird creature, nicknamed Jean Jacket, starts out as your textbook UFO, abducting California horses, hiding out behind a fake cloud. Towards the end, after attempting to eat a balloon, it morphs into a jellyfish-like creature, with spectacular floaty frills, and dies dramatically. Now, that’s how to make an exit.

The show Taken (2002) is about four generations of families who have some association with aliens.

Taken (2002). Not the action thriller movies, but the mini-series. The show spans from 1944 to 2002 and covers four generations of families who have some association with aliens. The Crawfords are covering up the Roswell crash and the aliens in our midst; the Keyses have been experimented upon by aliens; The Clarkes sheltered one of the surviving aliens from the crash. No sci-fi, just drama.

Stitch, from Lilo and Stitch (2002), is possibly the cutest alien ever.

Lilo and Stitch (2002). Stitch, aka Experiment 626, is the cutest alien. He crash-lands on Kauaʻi in Hawaii and gets adopted by orphaned kid Lilo, who mistakes him for a dog. Stitch, just by the way, is genetically engineered to cause destruction. But the two develop a sweet and strong bond, enough to turn Stitch away from his destructive streak, and have PG-rated adventures. Love is the best weapon, Earthlings!

Chewie, first spotted in Captain Marvel, is a cat-like creature that can travel between dimensions.

Flerkens in the Marvel Universe (2019 -). First spotted in Captain Marvel as a cat who scratched Nick Fury’s eye out. Turns out that Chewie is a Flerken, a breed that can travel between dimensions and has extendable tentacles in their mouths. They play a crucial part in rescuing the crew and agents aboard Fury’s ship in The Marvels (2023). It’s a sight to see Nick Fury flailing around in space in a spaceship with dozens of cats!