"District 9" made $73 million in its first 10 days. Blomkamp, who grew up in Johannesburg, told CNN last month that he didn't want the sci-fi tale about aliens and apartheid to be defined by politics.

While the District 9 aliens (or "prawns" as they were unaffectionately known) are different from the robots in The Electric State, the concept is frighteningly familiar. With that in mind ...