The movie Contact, based on a novel by Carl Sagan, is about the first encounter between humans and a more advance extraterrestrial species.

A radio astronomer named Ellie Arroway (Jodie Foster) is working on the SETI project, the Search for Extraterrestrial Life.  SETI involves searching for radio emissions from stars in an attempt to find a message from an alien civilization.  She meets a writer named Palmer Joss (Matthew McConaughey), who she finds attractive, but who has vague religious beliefs that she disagrees with.  His beliefs are based on his personal spiritual journey, for which he has no objective evidence, of course.  After years of fighting for funding for her project, Arroway finally identifies an elusive signal from an extraterrestrial intelligence.  The scene in which the scientists discover and confirm the signal is exciting, as they breathlessly find their life's goal and confirm the objective evidence that it comes from another star.  The discovery leads to wide-ranging political and social events as the message is uncoded.

The most serious criticism is the conclusion of the movie.  Arroway is shown throughout as an atheist or agnostic, which was admirable for a mainstream movie even though she seems apologetic about it.  However, she has an "experience" which appears spiritual in nature, for which she admits to having no physical evidence.  This turn of events puts Arroway, an agnostic, in the same position as Joss, a theist.  It is hard to fault the behavior of the characters in the story, since Arroway admits openly that she has no evidence.  But it is not clear what Sagan was trying to say about religion or beliefs by putting his heroine in such a situation.  It appears that the author is saying that a belief in extraterrestrial life may be equivalent to belief in a supernatural power, and that both are associated with a hope for life after death.

The relationship between Arroway and Joss also seemed forced.  In terms of ideology, they seem to be natural adversaries.  Joss repeatedly appears in positions of power in which he thwarts Arroway's goals.  However, they are shown as falling in love with each other, and the ending of the movie puts them in the position of being allies.

In its special effects and its portrayal of an advanced alien race, Contact has been compared to 2001: A Space Oddessey.  Contact has more sympathetic characters with defined beliefs and experiences.  It also has special effects that are superior in some ways.  However, 2001 is more effective in inspiring awe and wonder about the immensity of the universe and about the strangeness that an advanced civilization would appear to have in the eyes of humans.