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Contact

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.

TMDB

7.5 / 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?

The 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.

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Last and First Men

Last and First Men

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As the end approaches inexorably, the last humans, living millions of years into the future, send a message to the humanity of the present that is both a plea for help and a warning, but also an epic tale of evolution, decline and hope.

Pi

Pi

Mystery · 1998

A mathematical genius discovers a link between numbers and reality, and thus believes he can predict the future.

The Vast of Night

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.

The Andromeda Strain

The Andromeda Strain

Sci-fi · 1971

When virtually all of the residents of Piedmont, New Mexico are found dead after the return to Earth of a space satellite, the head of the US Air Force's Project Scoop declares an emergency. A group of eminent scientists led by Dr. Jeremy Stone scrambles to a secure laboratory and tries first to isolate the life form while determining why two people from Piedmont - an old alcoholic and a six-month-old baby - survived. The scientists methodically study the alien life form, unaware that it has already mutated and presents a far greater danger in the lab, which is equipped with a nuclear self-destruct device designed to prevent the escape of dangerous biological agents.

Primer

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.

Solaris

Solaris

Drama · 2002

A troubled psychologist is sent to investigate the crew of an isolated research station orbiting a bizarre planet.

Stowaway

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.

Transcendence

Transcendence

Thriller · 2014

Two leading computer scientists work toward their goal of Technological Singularity, as a radical anti-technology organization fights to prevent them from creating a world where computers can transcend the abilities of the human brain.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Robert Zemeckis

Written by

Michael Goldenberg · James V. Hart

Jodie Foster

Jodie Foster

Ellie Arroway

Matthew McConaughey

Matthew McConaughey

Palmer Joss

James Woods

James Woods

Michael Kitz

John Hurt

John Hurt

S. R. Hadden

Tom Skerritt

Tom Skerritt

David Drumlin

William Fichtner

William Fichtner

Kent

David Morse

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 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.

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.