Contact(1997)

Watching Disclosure Day last week made me want to revisit this. This rewatch, and comparing it with the alien movies we got this century, including the good ones like Arrival, only reaffirmed for me that this film is peak sci-fi, unbelievably ahead of its time.

What sets this story apart for me can probably be summed up from a single scene. After the leading candidate for the mission withdraws because his son asked him not to risk his life, Palmer asks Ellie why she is willing to throw away everything she has on earth, knowing she may well never return, to go on a suicide mission with no promise of any reward. She replies that if there is even just a sliver of hope that she can make the tiniest bit of progress towards learning the meaning of "who we are, and what are we doing here", then it is worth one human life, and she's excited to be the one to give it.

The way Jodie Foster delivers this line, full of both external curiosity and unmistakable introspection, has been living in my head rent-free ever since. Most films in this genre either only lean into hard science, or collapse into cheesy hacks like the infamous Interstellar "love transcends time and space" gobbledygook. I'd never seen a more beautiful acknowledgment of space exploration as both an outward exploration of the universe and a deeply human exercise to look within, and it's still crazy to me that this was made in the last century, before I was born.

There is simply no movie that seriously wrestles with the existentialism of communication with alien life that does it as elegantly as Contact. It threads a compelling story between science, politics, and faith, showing through the characters how curiosity and wonder are constantly entangled with ego, power, and, thankfully, humility. Every beat of the story adds both momentum and sophistication. It neither coddles or condescends. For every bit of incredible imagination, it pairs with even more refreshing honesty. I was never even much of a spiritual person, but this film actually made me see parallels between science and faith when we are pushed to the edge of our capability in either direction. I love this film so much and cannot recommend it enough.