This installment follows a familiar formula, though it introduces a female lead, and it’s executed competently. A paleontologist from the United States (played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead) is asked to go with a doctor and his helper (Ulrich Thomsen and Eric Christian Olsen) to an Antarctic research station in Norway. Their mission: investigate a massive object found beneath the ice, along with a frozen body discove…

The Thing is directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr., with a screenplay adapted by Eric Heisserer. It's based on John W. Campbell’s novel "Who Goes There?" and serves as a prequel to the 1982 film “John Carpenter’s The Thing.” The cast includes Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Joel Edgerton, Ulrich Thomsen, Eric Christian Olsen, and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje; Marco Beltrami composed the music, and Michel Abramowicz handled ci…