The Mothman Prophecies is a 2002 American supernatural horror-mystery film directed by Mark Pellington, and starring Richard Gere and Laura Linney, with Will Patton, Debra Messing, Alan Bates and Lucinda Jenney in supporting roles.

Still shaken by the death of his wife two years earlier from a glioblastoma, Klein is sent to cover a news piece and inexplicably finds himself in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, where there have been sightings of an unusual creature and other unexplained phenomena.

Local sheriff Connie Mills defuses the situation while Gordon claims that this is the third consecutive night when John has knocked on his door at 2:30 AM asking to use the phone.

John checks in at a local motel and discovers that he is in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, just across the state line of Ohio, hundreds of miles off his route and having travelled the distance impossibly fast.

While discussing the day's events at a local diner, John notices that the news is showing the story of an airplane crash in Denver that killed all 99 passengers and crew aboard.

John becomes obsessed with the local "Mothman" legend as some of the messages and apparitions imitate Mary, and he arranges to meet an expert on the subject, Alexander Leek.

Leek explains its enigmatic nature and discourages John from becoming further involved, warning him that attempting to prevent predicted events is futile.

However, when John learns that the governor plans to tour a chemical plant located on the Ohio River the following day, he becomes convinced that the tragedy will occur there.

Soon after, John receives a mysterious letter that instructs him to await a call from his deceased wife Mary back in Georgetown on Christmas Eve at noon.

The film ends with a claim that the cause of the bridge collapse was never fully determined, and that although Mothman has been sighted in other parts of the world, it was never seen again in Point Pleasant.

Writer Paul Meehan judged the film's explanation of the Mothman to be a "confused mish-mosh of science fiction and demonology" and likened it to the television series The X-Files, though preserving Keel's "breathless hysteria.

"[5] Horsley argued the film's Mothman arrives from a foreign dimension, but being without "physical existence," it is also a product of the minds of Point Pleasant's citizens, based on "formless and impersonal energy.

[7] Pellington rejected numerous screenplay drafts as literal interpretations of Keel's book, and wished to explore psychological drama in UFO witnesses.

[11] Road montages were filmed on Pennsylvania Route 28, and the Chicago scenes are completely shot in downtown Pittsburgh’s Mellon Square and Trinity Churchyard environs as well as the entrance to the Duquesne Club.

[15] Marketing in television and posters emphasized claims it was "based on true events", despite the supernatural premise and Pellington's acknowledgement that the account was reframed as a fictional narrative.

[21] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it two stars out of four, calling it unfocused, but praised the direction by Mark Pellington "whose command of camera, pacing and the overall effect is so good, it deserves a better screenplay.

"[22] The New York Times critic Elvis Mitchell judged it "hushed and smooth" but "little more than an adequate shard of winter-doldrums genre fare".

[23] The Washington Post's Stephen Hunter dismissed it as "all buzz: It's camerawork on the verge of a meltdown and weird music in search of a composer", and joked seeing it "is like getting mugged in an alley by an especially thuggish crew of Method actors".