They Live

Nada, a working-class drifter, discovers special sunglasses that expose a shocking reality: the world's ruling elite are actually disguised extraterrestrials. They use hidden, subliminal television and print messages to subjugate humanity, forcing him to join a brewing underground resistance to wake up the world.

Nada is a homeless man who comes to Los Angeles in pursuit of work, where he spots a preacher warning that "they" have recruited the rich and powerful to control humanity. He finds employment at a construction site and befriends his coworker Frank, who invites him to live in a shanty town near a church, where he meets their community leader, Gilbert. His curiosity leads him to follow Gilbert into a church and to mysterious boxes that a police raid aims to destroy...

John Carpenter's 1988 cult satire of unrestrained capitalism is a blatant example of the press sometimes getting it all wrong. Despite an initial disdainful reception, They Live is now rightfully regarded as one of Carpenter's best films. A satirical sci-fi masterpiece. And wrestling champion Roddy Piper's performance as John Nada remains the gold standard for blue-collar grit, authentic charisma, and working-class rebellion in cinema history.

In the 2012 documentary film The Pervert's Guide to Ideology, whose 2026 sequel is presented to you in Irish premiere, philosopher and psychoanalyst Slavoj Žižek called They Live "one of the forgotten masterpieces of the Hollywood Left."