Early in Contact, a character is introduced called “Kent Clark,” and I found myself consistently distracted by the fact that nobody ever acknowledges his name's connection to Superman’s civilian identity. I suspect this might be an intentional nod to the audience, hinting at something we later realize: the unfolding events are essentially an elaborate trick played on both viewers and potentially even the actors themselves. The film occupies a strange space between Close Encounters of the Third Kind's straightforward sense of childlike wonder and Ad Astra’s more pragmatic acceptance that we might be alone – which is just another way of saying Contact doesn't quite fit in either category; its central message seems to suggest there could be intelligent life out there, but then again, maybe not. There’s nothing inherently wrong with some uncertainty, but it feels like a significant investment—a great deal of money, resources, and effort—went into the film (though the movie itself avoids committing fully, opting for unconvincing CGI that hasn't aged well). We also invested over two hours of our time, all to potentially discover that any apparent alien contact is just an elaborate deception concocted by someone or something. That’s a considerable amount of work and a long journey to reach a conclusion many people, myself included, would consider obvious from the start. Even if the aliens in the film were genuine, they'd still be somewhat underwhelming—though I shouldn't say "they," since we only see one, appearing as Dr. Ellie Arroway’s (Jodie Foster) deceased father. The positive aspect is that David Morse portrays Ellie’s dad, and you could hardly ask for a better choice for the ensemble cast overall; however, Ellie’s encounter takes place on a beach intended to resemble a drawing she made when she was nine years old. This feels like a misstep because the drawing looks like something a real child would create, while the computer-generated beach where Ellie meets the alien is far less impressive. The alien simply reiterates things we already knew or believed, which doesn’t mean the setting itself needed to be so bland; a genuine beach or even a convincingly realistic set would have served Ellie's imagination—or the aliens’ abilities—much better than what we see onscreen.

Source on TMDB