The 27th Day

A chilly, talky Cold War parable that trades spectacle for moral dread and mounting global panic.

Directed by

William Asher

Genres

Science fiction

Starring

Gene Barry, Valerie French, George Voskovec

Tagline

Terror from Outer Space!

Overview

Five individuals from five nations, including the USA, USSR, and China, suddenly find themselves on an alien saucer, where an alien gives each a container holding three capsules. The alien explains that no power on earth can open a given container except a mental command from the person to whom it is given, then anyone may take a capsule and, by speaking a latitude and longitude at it, cause instant death to all within a given radius: thus each of the five has been provided with the power of life and death. Then, they are given 27 days to decide whether to use the capsules, and returned to the places from which each one came...

How it feels

Tense, dark, earnest and bleak. Measured and needs your attention.

About

Morality, power, fate, war

Content

Mild violence. No gore, sexual content or swearing.

Note

Written by AI, so it can be wrong. Full breakdown

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Watch the trailer on YouTube (opens in a new tab)