Life Suggests Maybe We Shouldn’t Go Looking for Extraterrestrials

One of the driving forces behind man’s curiosity about outer space is to answer the question of what’s out there–and is there life beyond Earth. Given the sheer magnitude of the known universe and the trillions of stars and planets to choose from it seems statistically impossible that Earth can be the only planet with life, but the movie Life gives us some reasons to think twice about whether or not we really want to know.

Sure, some extraterrestrial life is portrayed as docile and cute–ET, Alf, or even Mork from Ork. Many science fiction depictions of life beyond Earth don’t go so well, though–Alien, War of the Worlds, Independence Day. What the crew discovers in the movie Life definitely seems to fall into the dangerous threat category rather than the benign altruism one.



The latest trailer gives us a more extended look at what the crew of six aboard the space station uncover in a sample collected from Mars, and the dangerous, unintended consequences of that discovery. The quest for life beyond Earth is fascinating. Hopefully when we find it, though, it will be a race we can share with and learn from–not one intent on destroying or subjugating mankind.