E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

Directed by Steven Spielberg.
Starring Dee Wallace and Henry Thomas.

In a Nutshell: A group of children befriend an abandoned alien.

A contemporary fairytale that has delighted generations of moviegoers, E.T. the Extra Terrestrial is ever bit as sublime as you remembered. As a hallmark of Steven Spielberg’s career, it also stands as one of his simplest and direct works. Its emotions, terror, and humor all strike universal chords, only deepening over time. The story of its homesick alien botanist needs little introduction. E.T. is presented to us as both a healing Christ-like figure and an innocent child. He is impressionable and adventurous, but still pines for the comforts of home. But even as ideas on alien culture, government and family relationships develop, Spielberg never lets us forget our need to return to the ones we love.

E.T., both the character and the movie, both tap into areas that we never grow out of. Spielberg rarely keeps the camera out of a child’s distorted POV. The nighttime woods are a calm, mysterious and hauntingly beautiful. Halloween is a grotesquely fascinating parade and the onslaught of government forces become a faceless, voiceless monster. For both E.T. and his friend Elliott (the delightfully nuanced Henry Thomas) we all wish to find our sanctuary, with all the delights and fears that come with it.

On a purely technical level, E.T. is not flawless. Sometimes John William’s score is too much of a good thing; pacing in the middle can be too quick while it becomes more drawn-out at the end. But these are inconsequential nitpicks. Spielberg has solidified himself as a director capable of connecting to moviegoers on a wide scale. He taps into the personal fears and needs of modern suburbia while offering the same hope for interstellar peace that came with Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The E.T. character is more than a marvel of puppetry and animatronics, but a wholly human presence. Both film and character find purity of childhood and all the highs and lows that come with it. An arrestingly heartfelt film, and one of Spielberg’s finest.