The defence The Auteur Devotee
“Form is the argument.”
Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.
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Contact
Drama · Science Fiction · Mystery · 1997
A radio astronomer receives the first extraterrestrial radio signal ever picked up on Earth. As the world powers scramble to decipher the message and decide upon a course of action, she must make some difficult decisions between her beliefs, the truth, and reality.
Movie details
Contact
“Take a journey to the heart of the universe.”
1997 Drama · Science Fiction · Mystery 2h 30m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
7.4 / 10
Community rating
A radio astronomer receives the first extraterrestrial radio signal ever picked up on Earth. As the world powers scramble to decipher the message and decide upon a course of action, she must make some difficult decisions between her beliefs, the truth, and reality.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Contact?
For the defence
The Auteur Devotee
“You watch the director, not the movie.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
K-PAX
Sci-fi · 2001
Prot is a patient at a mental hospital who claims to be from a far away planet. His psychiatrist tries to help him, only to begin to doubt his own explanations.
Fire in the Sky
Sci-fi · 1993
After clearing brush for the government, a group of men return to town claiming their friend was abducted. Despite no apparent motive or evidence of foul play, no-one believes their story and his disappearance is treated as murder.
Pi
Mystery · 1998
A mathematical genius discovers a link between numbers and reality, and thus believes he can predict the future.
Arrival
Drama · 2016
Taking place after alien crafts land around the world, an expert linguist is recruited by the military to determine whether they come in peace or are a threat.
The Vast of Night
Drama · 2019
At the dawn of the space-race, two radio-obsessed teens discover a strange frequency over the airwaves in what becomes the most important night of their lives and in the history of their small town.
Primer
Sci-fi · 2004
A group of fledgling inventors discover a complex method to manipulate reality. At first, they successfully game the stock market with it, but the consequences of the invention start to catch up with them.
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Sci-fi · 1951
An alien and a robot land on Earth after World War II and tell mankind to be peaceful or face destruction.
Solaris
Drama · 2002
A troubled psychologist is sent to investigate the crew of an isolated research station orbiting a bizarre planet.
Monsters
Drama · 2010
Six years ago NASA discovered the possibility of alien life within our solar system. A probe was launched to collect samples, but crashed upon re-entry over Central America. Soon after, new life forms began to appear and half of Mexico was quarantined as an infected zone. Today, the American and Mexican military still struggle to contain "the creatures," while a journalist agrees to escort a shaken tourist through the infected zone in Mexico to the safety of the U.S. border.
Stowaway
Sci-fi · 2021
A three-person crew on a mission to Mars faces an impossible choice when an unplanned passenger jeopardizes the lives of everyone on board.
Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Robert Zemeckis
Written by
Michael Goldenberg · James V. Hart
Jodie Foster
Ellie Arroway
Matthew McConaughey
Palmer Joss
James Woods
Michael Kitz
John Hurt
S. R. Hadden
Tom Skerritt
David Drumlin
William Fichtner
Kent
David Morse
Ted Arroway
Court is in session
Put Contact on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist
“Technique in search of a pulse.”
Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.