FAQ

Based on a long running science fiction TV drama, this movie follows two former FBI agents who used to work on the "X-Files", which were a series of cases involving the paranormal. They are asked to assist in a case involving a psychic in West Virginia.

Yes. The X-Files: I Want to Believe is partly inspired by a 1940s Russian documentary titled Experiments in the Revival of Organisms in which a scientist claimed to keep a severed dog's head alive by using a machine called an "autojector". Scully discovers this while doing an online search, and the dog's head is briefly shown. The original documentary can be seen in its entirety at the Prelinger Archives here.

Unlike the first X-Files movie, this one does not follow the alien conspiracy (aka "mythology") storyline. This movie is a supernatural thriller in the tradition of many of the show's "standalone" episodes. However there is one mention of Mulder's sister being "abducted by E.T."

The movie's events take place in the then-contemporary period, six years after the end of Season 9 of the TV series, according to Frank Spotnitz in an interview with Movieweb.

Chris Carter has said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that he would like to make a third movie, one that would "fare better with those who have been long term devotees of the show".

Yes, the Blu-ray/DVD release includes the "Director's Cut" of the film, which runs approximately 4 minutes longer. According to a statement David Duchovny gave in an interview it can be expected that this version includes some more graphic/disturbing scenes Chris Carter did not use in order to avoid an R rating. Both releases also include additional deleted scenes as part of the bonus material.

Yes, towards the end of the credits (about 5 minutes in, or 1 minute before the very end), the camera zooms over a tropical ocean, ending up over a small rowboat with Scully and Mulder aboard. They seem to be on vacation. As the camera pulls out, the two wave at the camera.

The movie briefly lingers on a photograph of George W. Bush hanging in the FBI office hallway, while the X-Files theme plays sharply and comically. This could be to semi-jokingly imply that Bush is a conspirator, or perhaps even an alien, as both are popular claims among conspiracy theorists. An evil sounding note also plays when the camera next pans over a similar hanging photo of J. Edgar Hoover, and then both photos are shown together, seeming to indicate some shady connection between the two figures. The creators have said it was just a mark for long terms fans, to show the passage of time. In the series, a picture of Bill Clinton could be seen in many FBI offices, and they just wanted to show that life went on in the X File world by changing it to Bush and having Mulder and Scully acknowledge it.