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Alien invasions, first contact and abductions beware! Long have UFOs permeated pop culture and thanks to the Letterboxd community, it’s easy to determine the most popular UFO films to date. Fascination with alien contact was partly kick-started by the H.G. Wells 1897 novel The War of the Worlds, which has received numerous screen adaptations over the years, proving UFOs have long been on humanity’s mind.
UFO films can vary between peaceful or violent interactions depending on whether the visitors are benevolent or malevolent. Some films focus on making contact with the aliens, while others see humanity fleeing for their lives. Some look to poke some fun at the campiness of the silver age of cinema, others attempt to convey a profound message, while recent films like Nope(2022) shake up the sub-genre altogether.
‘Under the Skin’ (2013)
Under the Skin portrays an eerie perspective of a disguised alien female (Scarlett Johansson) who lures in single men. In an abstract opening sequence of spherical shapes molding and passing through lights on a journey toward Earth, it’s implied that the female alien is dropped off to prey on humans. A blink and you miss it shot of a skyscraper sees the UFO escaping back into the cloudy Scotland skies.
As far as UFO films go, this is as close as this film gets. What ensues is a voyeuristic experience of uneasy tension as the female alien observes humanity with an emotionless gaze, luring men in with promises of intimacy to harvest their body. However, as the alien experiences a variety of physical and emotional interactions, their identity is shaken.
‘Signs’ (2002)
M. Night Shyamalan brings his twisty brand of suspense to the sci-fi genre with Signs. Starring Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix, and young actors Rory Culkin and Abigail Breslin, Signs tells an alien invasion story from the perspective of a small family in a rural farming town.
Discovering crop circles in their corn fields and other mysterious happenings, the family witnesses aliens lurking around their farm. While the family becomes increasingly paranoid, and they share evidence broadcasted on their small TV, the perspective of the invasion remains intimately focused on the characters who are simultaneously struggling with grief, regret and loss of faith.
‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ (1968)
From one of cinema’s most distinguished directors comes 2001: A Space Odyssey, the mesmerizing and interpretive sci-fi masterpiece by Stanley Kubrick. The intro shows how unseen alien entities send a monolith to Earth, thus sparking the dawn of humankind. A jump cut to the future depicts the way humans finally uncover a buried monolith on the moon. That monolith is sending a message to Jupiter, so a mission departs Earth to seek out its source.
Kubrick is not known to tell the audience everything they need to know, instead, the journey is full of abstract moments meant to inspire an emotional response. Dabbling in scientific interpretations of the God concept, fears of artificial intelligence, evolution and rebirth, the film doesn’t care to define anything since the vast cosmos of existence is simply beyond human comprehension.
‘Men in Black’ (1997)
Playing off the campiness of the 50s comes the action sci-fi comedy Men In Black. With a parallel to immigration, the Men in Black is a secret government agency that licenses, monitors and polices alien activity on planet Earth. Giving audiences a plethora of aliens, weapons and spacecraft this film pokes fun at so many sci-fi clichés and tropes.
The film stars a no-nonsense Tommy Lee Jones as Agent K who recruits the youthful Agent J, played by Will Smith. The two form a hilariously mismatched partnership while both Jay and the audience discover the alien community that has been living right under our noses. Conflict is sparked when a crashed alien ship brings a viscous Bug alien that disguises itself in human skin (Vincent D’Onofrio) and the newfound partners must stop the Bug from escaping Earth with a prized possession.
‘Independence Day’ (1996)
Alien invasions at their most destructive! Independence Day is an action-packed disaster movie that witnesses hostile aliens arriving with their massive fleet to wipe humanity off the face of the Earth. Independence Day is a motivational rah-rah adventure that bolsters the people of Earth to stand up to the malevolent aliens.
Will Smith stars as a jet fighter pilot whose first contact with the villainous aliens has him eager for payback. The film also stars Bill Pullman as the US President, not afraid to get into the fight when he needs to, and Jeff Goldblum, who uses his intellect to outwit the alien threat. While the simple plot and characterizations are slapped on the cover of this blockbuster epic, it provides an explosive good time audiences keep returning to.
‘District 9’ (2009)
District 9 takes a realistic approach to a UFO film, depicting a derelict alien spaceship that arrives over the South African city of Johannesburg. Delivered partially in documentary format, the film explains how officials discovered over a million malnourished aliens inside the hovering spacecraft. In hopes to rehabilitate them, the aliens are relocated into camps, which are soon turned into a slum.
District 9 is a terrific example of grounded sci-fi, brought primarily by its raw documentary style that puts the audiences’ boots on the ground. The film turns the tables by sympathizing with the exploited aliens who are sequestered in slums, segregated out of fear of their otherworldliness in a commentary on the Apartheid. The manipulation is made worse as the aliens are essentially held hostage so a weapons manufacturer can exploit their technology.
‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’ (1977)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind was a passion project by director Steven Spielberg who derived its title from the writings of Ufologist J. Allen Hyneck, responsible for classifying the varying degrees of UFO encounters. The first encounter is classified as a sighting, the second being evidence left behind, and the third encounter is contact with the inhabitant of the UFO. There in the title would be the heart and soul of Spielberg’s classic UFO tale; meeting the aliens.
Along with government officials and UFO witnesses, the film focuses on Roy (Richard Dreyfuss), who, after his UFO sighting, becomes increasingly obsessed. He upends his home and replicates an odd landmark out of mashed potatoes and household materials. While there’s a feeling of paranoia and anticipation throughout the film, the tension is released with a sense of wonder in the film’s climactic meeting. John Williams‘ classic score integrates seamlessly into the communication with the aliens, helping Spielberg’s sci-fi classic stand the test of time.
Spielberg delivers another modern classic, the family-friendly sci-fi adventure E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Opening the film with the star-lit night, a UFO sets down on a forest floor and small aliens begin to investigate. However, after being spooked by human adults, the craft quickly departs, leaving behind one lone alien. That harmless alien would take refuge in a nearby shed where it would be fortunate enough to befriend a young boy named Elliot (Henry Thomas).
Elliot takes in the stranded alien, now named E.T., and the two form a close physical and emotional bond. While the obtrusive and fearful adults aim to hunt down E.T., Elliot and the other young kids are compelled to protect the friendly alien. Through Spielberg’s trademark sense of awe and wonder, the innocence and compassion of youth triumph as the children help E.T. contact his ship and escape to safety.
‘The Thing’ (1982)
An establishing shot from space sees an alien craft traveling towards Earth as piercing light rips onto the screen with the title card; The Thing. Cut to an American research facility in Antarctica where a group of men investigates a distressing situation at a nearby Norwegian facility. There, the US team finds a massive spaceship that has been in the ice for an estimated hundred thousand years and evidence of an escaped pilot, but no corpse can be found.
Starring an ensemble cast, including Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley and Keith David, the isolated group becomes terrorized by a horrifying alien that can imitate any living creature. What ensues is a gore-filled panic as the once-familiar group of men spiral into a whirlwind of paranoia and distrust. The concept of a wolf among sheep drives the fear as the unrestrained and ambitious special effects makeup and a frigid environment make for a terrifying sci-fi experience.
‘Arrival’ (2016)
Topping Letterboxd’s most popular UFO films is the cerebral masterpiece, Arrival. Crafted by the visionary Denis Villeneuve, Arrival follows linguistic expert Louise Banks (Amy Adams), whose tasked with deciphering an alien language. Hovering over the landscape are massive upright ships, smooth and featureless, but inside housing the Heptapods, an alien race that thinks far differently than humans.
The film’s premise is largely based on the concept that people think differently depending on the language they think in. Therefore, if one were to begin to think in the language of the Heptapods, their interpretation of reality can begin to shift. Communicating in abstract circular forms of thought the Heptapods exist within a non-linear reality, and over time Louise attempts to connect with this process of thought in order to gain the gifts the Heptapods look to imbue.
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