There are more than 12,000 species of ants all over the world
Something is happening. Something that is changing the natural order of things. The desert ant population begins to display behavior not seen before. Different species start to communicate and work with each other toward a common purpose. Each ant is like an individual cell working for the whole.
Two scientists Dr. Ernest D. Hubbs (Nigel Davenport) and James R. Lesko (Michael Murphy) try to determine what is causing this phenomenon. The ants drive out the population of a town except one orphan girl, Kendra Eldridge (Lynne Frederick), that the scientists take in. The scientists erect a dome and set up equipment to try to analyze what is happening and to try to either destroy the ants or communicate with them to find out what it is they want. The scientists are trying to do experiments to assess the intelligence of the ants. Are the ants also testing the scientists to assess their intelligence?
"Phase IV" was released in 1974 and was directed by Saul Bass. This is not your normal Sci Fi movie. There are no aliens. No big action sequences. Only questions. It’s a bizarre little film and it’s not for everyone. Far from exploitative the movie concentrates more on humanity’s rational or irrational responses to the simple question what if ants were smarter than we give them credit for? It is an intellectual based exploration of who we are in the universe and what would happen if what we believe either changed or was proven wrong.
If you get the creepy crawlies you may not want to watch this. There is a lot of actual live ant activity footage. And I mean close up ant footage. It’s only right since they are the real stars of the movie. There is also an alternate ending out on You Tube if you are interested in seeing how the director envisioned the conclusion of the movie.
People have had different interpretations and theories of what happened to cause the events portrayed in the movie. My interpretation? The rare yet natural phenomenon of the total eclipse plus violent magnetic field bursts from solar flares created a chemical change to the smallest form of intelligent life on earth. The ants. That chemical change caused them to elevate their position on the evolutionary scale surpassing the intelligence of man and replacing them as the dominate species on the planet.
As for the four phases, again there are no answers in the movie and you will have to come up with your own interpretations. My interpretation? Phase I: The event, Phase II: Adaptation, Phase III: Communication, Phase IV: Evolution (Human)