Independence Day: Resurgence is a film.
Independence Day : Resurgence is a 2016 American science fiction film written and directed by Roland Emmerich with co-writers Dean Devlin , Nicolas Wright , James A. Woods , and James Vanderbilt . The film takes place twenty years after the events of the first film , during which the United Nations has collaborated to form Earth Space Defense ( ESD ) , an international military defense and research organization . The film received generally unfavorable reviews from critics , who found the plot convoluted and action sequences overblown , though some praised its overall humor .