They Live is an American satirical science fiction film written, directed, and scored by John Carpenter, and starring Roddy Piper, Keith David, and Meg Foster. Based on the 1963 short story "Eight O'Clock in the Morning" by Ray Nelson, the film follows a drifter who discovers through special sunglasses that the ruling class are aliens concealing their appearance and manipulating people to consume, breed, and conform to the status quo via subliminal messages in mass media. Released November 4th,