The X Files (1998)

Directed by: Rob Bowman | 121 minutes | drama, science fiction | Actors: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, John Neville, William B. Davis, Martin Landau, Mitch Pileggi, Jeffrey DeMunn, Blythe Danner, Terry O’Quinn, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Lucas Black

“The truth is out there.” The still great fame of this slogan says something about the great influence of ‘The X-Files’ on pop culture. With its superb protagonists, eerie music and mystery and storyline, the series tapped into deep-seated fears of government conspiracies and the supernatural. It is therefore no surprise that film versions have also been made. ‘The X-Files’ (sometimes with the addition ‘Fight the Future’) is by far the best. The film is both a good translation of the series to the silver screen, and an entertaining science fiction mystery for the series.

Like the series, The X-Files is about FBI agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson). Conspiracy theorist Mulder and skeptic Scully team up to run the X-Files, a secret FBI unit that deals with the unexplained. An apparently ‘normal’ bombing leads Mulder and Scully on the trail of a government plot to keep plans for an alien invasion a secret.

‘The X-Files’ strikes a perfect balance between being faithful to the series and opening itself up to new audiences. The film continues the storyline of previous seasons of the series and has an influence on the season after, but feels like a standalone story. While fans of the series will notice a lot of familiar elements – the black oil, bees, the ‘Cigarette Smoking Man’ – these are fitted into the story in such a way that those unfamiliar with the series will not miss anything.

Lead actors Duchovny and Anderson have years of experience in their roles and it shows. Duchovny convincingly portrays Mulder as the obsessed true believer, who sees conspiracies everywhere. He is not a madman, however, but an at times nerdy, boyish warrior with a mission. Anderson’s Scully is rational and stubbornly skeptical, yet warm and mature – the perfect polar opposite for Mulder. While they are the anchor of the story, the film also features strong supporting roles from Martin Landau (“North By Northwest,” “Ed Wood”) as whistleblower and serial veterans Mitch Pileggi and William B. Davis as FBI Deputy Director Skinner and the shadowy “Cigarette.” Smoking Man’.

The film’s strength is also its weakness – with series veterans like director Rob Bowman and writer Chris Carter at the helm, it forgets how it’s a movie and not an episode of the series. Although, as mentioned before, the story is easy to follow for outsiders, this does mean that the story has no cinematic structure and lacks a real climax. This is not necessary in a series, because there is another episode next week. But a film has to have a clear head and tail, and ‘The X-Files’ lacks that a bit. Nevertheless, it is an excellent conspiracy thriller with an otherworldly twist, accessible to fans of the series and science fiction lovers alike.