Meet the Applegates

The story unfolds in a contemporary late-20th-century setting, anchored by a comfortable Ohio suburb and modern consumer culture. The era's anxieties about corporate power, debt, and domestic appearances shape the Applegates' struggle between assimilation and their monstrous origins. The thread of technological progress (nuclear power) amplifies the stakes.

The movie opens in a dense Brazilian rainforest where a logging crew encounters the mutant Applegates. It then shifts to a well-off suburban neighborhood in Ohio, where the family tries to blend into ordinary middle-class life. The stark contrast between tropical danger and orderly suburbia underlines the film's satire on conformity and hidden, predatory identities.

👪 Family

A seemingly perfect family hides dangerous secrets and conflicting desires. The parents' devotion is tested as infidelity, debt, and a looming nuclear threat pull them apart, while the children reveal themselves as threats or allies in surprising ways. The family’s loyalty ultimately shifts toward preserving their place in human society rather than carrying out their mission.

🏡 Suburbia

The film juxtaposes a glossy suburban dream with violent, hidden biological truths. The Applegates' attempt to pass as ordinary neighbors exposes how consumer culture and social image mask deeper predators. Small-town suspicion collides with corporate power plays and family secrets. The setting amplifies the satire on conformity and appearances.

👽 Otherness

The Applegates' true forms and extraterrestrial mission flip the normal order of human society. The film toys with what it means to be human, showing how beings born to destroy become more human than their targets when faced with affection, loyalty, and desire. It questions whether saving a community justifies ruthless methods.

💳 Consumerism

Credit cards, debt, and shopping mania fuel the family's unraveling. The pursuit of the American Dream becomes a trap, drawing them deeper into crime and self-deception. Their consumerist veneer ultimately collides with the messiness of real relationships and survival.