Introduction / Sypnosis:

The film opens with an explanation of events that occurred 28 years in the past, when an alien ship settled above Johannesburg, South Africa. Several interviewed humans suggest that the alien ship became stranded after what appeared to be a command module fell from the ship to Earth. After three months of speculation as to the ship’s motives, humans cut their way in, discovering a large group of malnourished and leaderless arthropod-like non-humans. The creatures, primarily referred to as “prawns”—a derogatory reference to the Parktown prawn, a king cricket species found in South Africa[4]—were eventually housed in a government camp inside Johannesburg called District 9 while various nations argued about their fate. Overcrowding and militarization quickly turned the area into a slum, with a massive black market set up between the aliens and a Nigerian gang, led by paralyzed warlord Obesandjo. As a result, a private defense contractor Multinational United (MNU), which also researches new weapons, was assigned to govern the area.