In 1988, humanity establishes initial communication with a foreign extraterrestrial species. Three years later, the Newcomers, as they are called, are gradually assimilated into human culture following a mandatory quarantine period. Alien Nation, a 1988 film directed by Graham Baker, written by Rockne S. O'Bannon, and featuring stars James Caan, Mandy Patinkin, and Terence Stamp, depicts this unprecedented event.