Close Encounters of the Third Kind poster

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

1977138 minutesPG
6.3
Arcplot Score
📊 Solid
Unverified
⭐ 7.6IMDb
🍅 91%Rotten Tomatoes
Ⓜ️ 90/100Metacritic
🎬 7.3TMDb
📊 5.0Popularity
🏆Won 1 Oscar. 16 wins & 40 nominations total
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Written by: Steven Spielberg, Hal Barwood, Jerry Belson
Two parallel stories are told. In the first, a group of research scientists from a variety of backgrounds are investigating the strange appearance of items in remote locations, primarily desert regions. In continuing their investigation, one of the lead scientists, a Frenchman named Claude Lacombe, incorporates the Kodály method of music education as a means of communication in their work. The response, in turn, at first baffles the researchers, until American cartographer David Laughlin deciphers the meaning of the response. In the second, electric company lineman and family man Roy Neary and single mother Jillian Guiler are among some individuals in Muncie, Indiana who experience some paranormal activity before some flashes of bright lights in the sky, which they believe to be a UFO. Roy becomes obsessed with what he saw, unlike some others, especially in some form of authority, who refuse to acknowledge their belief that it was a UFO in not wanting to appear crazy. That obsession both for Roy and Jillian is ratcheted up a notch when they begin to have a vision of a mound with vertical striations on its side as a key to what is going on. While the obsession negatively affects Roy's life as he knows it in its entirety, Jillian knows she has to find the answer as to its meaning, especially as it relates to her only child, three year old Barry Guiler, who may be more attuned to what is happening than the adult figures around him. These two stories have the potential to intersect if Roy and Jillian can discover where they've seen that mound before, and if they can overcome what they believe to be the lies perpetrated by those in authority in covering up what is going on.

Box Office

Budget:$20.0M
Revenue:$306.9M
Profit:$286.9M

Arcplot Score Breakdown

Beat Timing Precision6.4/10
Emotional Arc Impact5.5/10
Thematic Consistency7/10
Overall Score6.3/10

Beat Sheet

15 plot points

Close Encounters of the Third Kind Arcplot
1
Opening Image
1 min
2
Theme Stated
12 min
3
Set-Up
18 min
4
Catalyst
25 min
5
Debate
38 min
6
Break Into Two
52 min
7
B Story
62 min
8
Fun and Games
78 min
9
Midpoint
92 min
10
Bad Guys Close In
105 min
11
All Is Lost
115 min
12
Dark Night of the Soul
118 min
13
Break Into Three
122 min
14
Finale
130 min
15
Final Image
137 min

Emotional Arc

+100-10

Plot Points

#1

Opening Image

1 min

Sonoran Desert. Scientists discover WWII planes perfectly preserved. Worldwide UFO phenomena investigated. Something is happening globally. Wonder and mystery. Communication attempts beginning.

#2

Theme Stated

12 min

Lacombe: "We are not alone and we never have been alone." Theme of obsession vs. normalcy, being chosen for extraordinary experience, and cost of answering call to wonder.

#3

Set-Up

18 min

Roy Neary, electrical lineman, ordinary family man. Wife Ronnie, three kids. Suburban Indianapolis life. Content but unremarkable. Barry Guiler, toddler, lives with mother Jillian nearby. Normal lives about to transform.

#4

Catalyst

25 min

Roy encounters UFO while investigating power outage. Brilliant lights. Face burned by light. Ship flies overhead. Barry also sees ships. Both marked by experience. Cannot unsee. Lives changed forever.

#5

Debate

38 min

Should Roy pursue this or ignore it? Obsessed with vision. Sculpting mountain shape. Family thinks he is crazy. Losing job, alienating wife. Jillian drawing same mountain. Is he insane or enlightened?

#6

Break Into Two

52 min

UFOs return to Barry house. Take him. Jillian helpless. Government covers up. Roy family leaves him. Marriage over. Enters world of abandoning normal life to pursue vision. No turning back.

#7

B Story

62 min

Roy and Jillian meet. Share visions of mountain. Not alone in obsession. Connection through shared extraordinary experience. Two people chosen, seeking meaning. Relationship built on wonder and loss.

#8

Fun and Games

78 min

Roy and Jillian discover mountain is Devils Tower, Wyoming. Government evacuating area with fake toxin story. Sneak past military. Climbing mountain. Promise: pursuing alien contact despite opposition.

#9

Midpoint

92 min

Reach landing site. Massive government operation. Lacombe there. Multiple UFOs arrive. Music communication. False victory: witnessing contact! But Roy not allowed to approach. Arrested. Stakes raised - so close.

#10

Bad Guys Close In

105 min

Military tries to remove civilians. Roy and Jillian escape. Determined to reach ships. Mothership arriving. Spectacular. Running toward it. Will they make it? Government closing in. Time running out.

#11

All Is Lost

115 min

Roy captured again. Taken away from landing site. Ships departing soon. Missed opportunity? Everything sacrificed - family, job, sanity - for nothing? Moment of despair. Was he wrong?

#12

Dark Night of the Soul

118 min

Roy sitting in decontamination. Ships outside communicating. Missing it. Everyone he chose this over is gone. Alone. Question: worth it? Did calling mean anything if he cannot answer it?

#13

Break Into Three

122 min

Roy escapes. Runs to landing site. Lacombe lets him go. Chosen ones recognized. Barry returns from ship. Synthesis: faith rewarded. Those called must answer. Trusting wonder over fear.

#14

Finale

130 min

Mothership lands. Majestic. Aliens emerge. Musical communication. Roy selected to board. Volunteers go with aliens. Chosen for journey. Ultimate acceptance of calling. Transcendent moment. Contact achieved.

#15

Final Image

137 min

Roy enters mothership with aliens. Ship departs. Jillian and Barry reunited. Lacombe gives alien farewell sign. Wonder and connection across cosmos. Ordinary man chosen for extraordinary destiny. Hope and awe.