I Am Number Four (2011) poster
2011 · action · thriller · sci-fi · adventure

I Am Number Four

Directed by D.J. Caruso1h 49m2011
ElsewhereIMDb6.1252kRT32%Metacritic36
  • heavy
  • kinetic
  • extreme
  • inventive
  • twisty
  • epic-stakes
Movie DNA

Heavy, breathless, extreme action / thriller, inventive in texture. Ambivalent, epic, measured, hand-scored across twelve axes of taste.

How every film is hand-scored →

A teenage fugitive with an incredible secret races to stay one step ahead of the mysterious forces seeking destroy him in this sci-fi action thriller. With three dead and one on the run, the race to find the elusive Number Four begins. Outwardly normal teen John Smith never gets too comfortable in the same identity, and along with his guardian, Henri, he is constantly moving from town to town. With each passing day, John gains a stronger grasp on his extraordinary new powers, and his bond to the beings that share his fantastic fate grows stronger.

Our read · I Am Number Four (2011) reads as a heavy, breathless, inventive action · thriller · sci-fi entry — extreme in intensity, epic-stakes in scope, measured in temperature, ambivalent in outlook. Hand-scored on twelve axes of taste — mood, pacing, weirdness, hope, stakes, humour, reality, density, warmth, auteur, intensity, and era — with a derived palette drawn from its dominant cinematography.

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The shape of I Am Number Four

Tonight, this looks like

What watching it is actually like.

You want a straightforward teen alien action flick with high-school romance.

ends triumphantyou’ll be fine aftergrabs you earlygrips by minute 8attention 3/5breezes by
Date nightWith friendsSoloWith parentsKids around
Heads-upgraphic violence

Skip it tonightDerivative YA sci-fi tropes and thin characters will irritate you immediately.

DNA · twelve axes

The reading.

Each axis is hand-scored — not derived from votes or genre averages. The marker shows where this film sits; the gradient fill uses the film's own cinematography palette.

Mood · HeavyCosy
Pacing · Slow-burnKinetic
Intensity · GentleExtreme
Weirdness · ConventionalSurreal
Hope · NihilisticRedemptive
Stakes · IntimateEpic
Humour · NoneBroad
Reality · GroundedFantastical
Density · SparseTwisty
Warmth · ColdTender
Auteur · TransparentSignature
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