Upon detecting a UFO invading American airspace, the National Guard dispatches fighter jets to investigate. The craft remains unresponsive as it plummets into the Atlantic near Manhattan, and from the wreckage emerge two survivors from the planet Remulak: Beldar and his wife Prymaat. Their mission and origin are clear enough to the authorities—that they come from a distant world—but their appearance and voices are so unfamiliar that they instantly stand out in a country built on a different kind of normal. The Highmaster Mintot assigns Beldar the task of conquering Earth, yet the first practical step for both of them is survival in a world that does not bend easily to alien customs.
To blend in, Beldar becomes an appliance repairman, a choice that unfolds with both comic misfires and sharp social misreadings. When he discovers that his documents and status on Earth are not entirely above board, his boss Otto helps him forge a new identity through underworld connections, a move that quickly draws the attention of the INS. An ambitious INS agent, Gorman Seedling, and his sycophantic assistant Eli Turnbull throw themselves into a fruitless chase after the couple, stymied at every turn by the Coneheads’ odd comportment and their earnest, almost childlike attempts at assimilation.
Prymaat reveals she is pregnant, an event that intensifies the stakes for the family and cements their intent to stay safe on Earth. The Coneheads learn that the rescue ship they expected will not arrive for many years, if ever, so they adopt a more conventional Earth life. They scrimp and save through ordinary suburban labor and prudence, with Beldar quietly building a life that suits their needs while drawing minimal hostility from their neighbors. The family eventually relocates to the suburbs, where they take on the surname Conehead, purchase a home, and settle in Paramus, New Jersey. In a bid to make themselves useful and self-reliant, Beldar opens a driving school, a legitimate enterprise that also helps him observe human routines and etiquette more closely.
As the years pass, Gorman’s pursuit of the Coneheads eases after he earns a promotion, but a Senate inquiry is launched to investigate the mounting expenses and the unusual case, ensuring that the Coneheads cannot slip away into obscurity. Their teenage daughter Connie begins to navigate the human world with her own sense of independence, seeking to fit in with her peers. The new normal challenges Beldar, who resists some of Connie’s changes, especially as she starts dating an auto mechanic named Ronnie Bradford—the kind of casual, everyday relationship that makes their true origins harder to ignore.
The pursuit heats up again when Gorman and Eli reenter the Coneheads’ life, this time disguised as Jehovah’s Witnesses to gain entry into their home. Prymaat detects the beeping of a device from Remulak—the family’s link to their home planet—and quickly warns Beldar that the “Big Phone” has contacted him. This discovery pushes the Coneheads to prepare for a different kind of endgame: a potential rescue that could uproot their carefully built Earthly life. The moment Connie learns they may have to leave soon, she declares her desire to stay behind with Ronnie, a choice that tugs at the heart of a family trying to keep their loyalties intact while also honoring their love for their newly adopted home.
When INS agents arrive to arrest the family, Ronnie steps in to stall them long enough for the rescue vessel to arrive. In a tense, last-minute sequence, the Coneheads and their new ally are whisked away just as the ship’s engines ignite. Gorman and Eli are taken aboard with the Coneheads, momentarily intertwining human and extraterrestrial fates in a fragile, hopeful balance.
Back on Remulak, Beldar returns to a world of royal duties and ceremonial expectations. He is welcomed home by Mintot, who appears pleased with Earthly gifts that Beldar has presented, including the subservient presence of Gorman and Eli as slaves. Yet Mintot’s satisfaction is fragile; he notices Beldar’s teeth have been capped—an Earthly adjustment Otto had urged to help him blend in—and accuses him of treason. Beldar is forced to face a brutal trial, condemned to fight a savage foe known as the Garthok. The sight of the arena’s ferocity unsettles Prymaat, who fears for their safety.
The arena match unfolds as the Garthok seemingly dominates, killing other condemned prisoners with brutal ease. In a moment that blends Earthly resourcefulness with Remulakian bravado, Beldar uses a skill learned on Earth—golfing—to strike a rock into the Garthok’s mouth, triggering a fatal choke. The act earns him a pardon from Mintot, who recognizes the value of Beldar’s fusion of human tactics with alien restraint. Beldar’s request to return to Earth with Gorman as his servant is granted, while Eli remains on Remulak to serve Mintot as a trusted butler-like figure. The Conehead family departs with Prymaat, Connie, and Gorman, and Beldar’s priority becomes Connie’s happiness and sense of belonging on Earth over any grand planetary conquest.
In a bold, cinematic twist, Beldar engineers a feigned Earth attack to mislead Mintot’s forces and buy time for the Coneheads to escape to their true, chosen home. The ruse buys them a reprieve and, in a symbolic gesture, Gorman agrees to secure green cards for the family, cementing their place in Earth’s society. The film closes on a note of ordinary happiness: the Conehead family—reunited, accepted, and free to live out their days on Earth—embraces the everyday rhythms of suburban life, balancing the uncanny with the familiar, and recognizing that love and acceptance can bridge galaxies as effectively as any mission of conquest.
Notes on casting: Beldar is portrayed by the actor who brings the Conehead’s distinctive manner and voice to life, and Prymaat is the partner who anchors their humanity; these first mentions are linked to their respective pages. Other cast members contribute to the rich texture of the Coneheads’ world, though their character names appear primarily in dialogue and plot rather than in this summary.
