Sometimes some films come along and surprise you. Cocoon was one of those films. Surprisingly uplifting and upbeat, it deals with the inhabitants of a retirement home who are starting to feel their age. Unlike the people who have bought one of the Gloucester Park Homes for Sale, they are unstimulated and bored. If they’d looked at Gloucester Park Homes for Sale, they would have found a vibrant and happy community of like-minded people who are active and healthy. The film itself was seen by 20th Century Fox as a sleeper release, cheaply made, but it might return a bit of a profit. The kind of film you’d see if the majors were too busy. In fact, the film took $85 million at the box office. Not bad as it was only made for $17.5 million.
Next door to the retirement home of Ben, Arthur and Joe is a swimming pool. The elderly men are keen to go swimming, bored as they are in the home, and they sneak into what they believe is an abandoned one in the house next door. They begin to lark around and start to feel young again. However, they also find that this isn’t just forgotten youthful high jinks; they really can do things that they could in their younger ages.
One night, after bringing in their wives to the pool as well, they are discovered. It turns out the strange rocks in the pool are actually the survival pods of a lost alien race. They are slowly being revived so that they can return to their home planet. However, the leader of the Aliens, Walter, is not an unkindly person and says that the 6 of them can use the pool as it will revitalise them.
However, the abilities of the couples begin to be noticed. The evidence is confirmed when one of the wives, in remembrance of her youth, starts to climb a tree. One of the residents has seen the group sneaking out and using the pool. The whole retirement home descends on the pool and jumps in. Whilst they can start to feel the benefits of the water, the aliens arrive and dismiss them. He reveals that the life force of the pool has been totally drained, and all the aliens they are trying to save will not be revived. In fact, one of the cocoons is damaged, and the alien inside is able to pass its lifeforce on before it passes.