The Visit (2015) Fantasia 2015

This may look like a toy on a set but its man in a containment suit  going to meet an alien

Documentary/essay exploring what would happen if an alien landed on earth. Using interviews with scientists the film ponders what we might do if confronted with an alien presence and how we would react.

Talking with scientists, some of whom are tasked by various governments and the United Nation to be the people who interact with any official alien contact . They discuss what should happen when we meet an alien, what actually may happen and a myrid of other topics, director Michael Madsen has created a thoughtful and thought provoking look something that one day may happen. It’s a highly intelligent examination of a subject that for many people is the fodder of Discovery Channel UFO show or Art Bell. If you never seriously considered what might happen if we made contact with an alien civilization this film will get your mind going.

I really liked the film a great deal. I think it’s a super introduction to the subject. This is a film I can and will be showing my friends who are skeptical that such an event will ever happen. They may very well be right but at the same time what if we did make contact?

What makes the film even better is that by examining what we would ask the aliens about themselves and trying to figure out how we would explain ourselves the film opens up the discussion to a large more, excuse the metaphor, down to earth one,; one that forces us to examine ourselves in the here and now. Its a discussion that I look forward to revisiting many times from here on out.

If there is any real problem with the film it’s that the core audience for the film, or at least the one's who are going to move to see it the quickest, are going to be the people who have made the UFO show a hit on cable- except that the film is in many ways too refined and too “real” for their tastes. As some one who loves fringe science I eat up all of the alien invasion shows. I love them and have all my life. However as with most of TV they have been dumbed down and aim for the craziest stories. They annoy me because there is so much bullshit in them I can’t watch them any more. The people who like those stupid ass shows are not going to like this straight on, cinematic essay. Its not isn’t full of anal probes.

For anyone who wants a thought for examination for a subject that many people would say is a way out topic

The film plays this afternoon and tomorrow at Fantasia. For more information and tickets go here.