Invasion of the Body Snatchers

This week’s movie is the 1956 sci-fi thriller, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, based on the 1955 science fiction novel written by Jack Finney. A small town in California is invaded by seed pods from outer space. Spores from the seed pods invade humans while they are sleeping, and replace them with duplicate bodies. Friends, family, and neighbors start noticing the difference – folks look the same but act differently . They are completely without emotion. The infected people work to spread the pores to inhabit more people. The end of the story is unresolved, leaving us to speculate – do we all become emotionless plant replicates? Or do we overcome?

Movie poster for "Invasion of the Body Snatchers"

Typically, plants do not invade humans and create plant duplicates. But, there are carnivorous plants that do trap and ingest small insects or reptiles. These plants typically grow in nutrient-poor soil, and have adapted by absorbing the nitrogen and other nutrients they need from their trapped victims. Nature is full of survival strategies. This is a fun movie, which has been remade several times, and is definitely a candidate for a summer movie where plants are the movie stars.