CONTACT (1997)

CHARACTER Dr. Ellie Arroway, radio astronomer

IMPERILED? After receiving instructions from an alien intelligence for building a one-person craft, Ellie must contend with a variety of human antagonists for the right to represent humanity as the first traveler. She must also contend with her own demons (she's still haunted by her father's death when she was a little girl) and the perils of the voyage into the unknown.

EMPOWERED? Once she wins the right to travel in the capsule, Ellie finds the trip to be a wondrous, transcendent experience, one that instills in the doubting scientist a kind of faith.

EW MOVIE GRADE: B+ (Read the EW review)