Adventure · Science Fiction · Family
American
1982 · Directed by Steven Spielberg · 115 min
A ten-year-old boy in a California suburb discovers a strange visitor hiding in his backyard shed. He keeps the secret from the adults, shares it with his brother and little sister, and finds that a friendship across worlds comes with real risks. Warm, funny and sometimes frightening.
Why it matters in cinema history
["A landmark of early-1980s Hollywood and the film that fixed the template of the emotional family science-fiction adventure, with Spielberg at the height of his popular power."][0]
Watch with intention
Watch it as a film about perspective: who is tall, who is shown only in part, and what the camera lets a child see.
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