In "The Invasion," Nicole Kidman plays a psychiatrist who begins to observe consequences of a recent NASA disaster. Some of her unruly patients are suddenly calmer and duller; their eyes go to opaque, their emotions to zero. One of them happens to be her ex-husband. After some medical mumbo jumbo, we get to the point: The crashing space vehicle has brought with it a new biotoxin that rewires human DNA to herd-animal specifications. The plague spreads, and Kidman is on the run.

Of course, what's being argued here is that philosophic mainstay: free will vs. submission. The movie honestly and bravely points out the consequences of free will -- slaughter, exploitation, starvation, violence. Submission guarantees survival, but at great cost, a zombified existence as a grass muncher -- no anguish, no tragedy but also no art, no poetry, no science, no love, no family, no individuality. Never an easy choice, the movie shows, and the consequences of it will haunt forever.

On the technical side, "The Invasion" has several first-rate, terrifying action sequences and grips totally from start to finish. But a subplot involving the Russian Embassy doesn't really pay off, and the relationship between Kidman and glum paramour Daniel Craig (another doc) isn't much.

-- Stephen Hunter (August 17, 2007)

Contains violence, disturbing images and terror.