Jodie Foster is steely yet open-hearted as Ellie Arroway, a scientist who discovers schematics for a single-occupant space vessel buried in transmissions from a distant star system.
Robert Zemeckis' ambitious adaptation of Carl Sagan's 1985 novel is that rarest of films: a philosophical blockbuster. Jodie Foster is steely yet open-hearted as Ellie Arroway, a scientist who discovers schematics for a single-occupant space vessel buried in transmissions from a distant star system. As the vessel is constructed and Ellie prepares for first contact, a stacked ensemble — Matthew McConaughey, Angela Bassett, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt — navigates the tensions between science and faith with charm and nuance. Zemeckis, meanwhile, balances the script's bigger questions with white-knuckle awe.