A rather over-zealous take on new age spirituality mars this otherwise impressive adaptation of Carl Sagan's bestselling novel. Jodie Foster stars as the dedicated astronomer who receives a message from extraterrestrials explaining how humble humans can build a spacecraft and go to meet them. Matthew McConaughey plays the religious adviser battling for her soul, while Tom Skerritt and James Woods portray sceptical presidential aides. The digital effects are stunning and director Robert Zemeckis is at home with the action sequences; if only he'd stuck to the sci-fi. However, the climactic scene of Foster's pod journey features one of the transcendent performances in all of cinema.

A radio astronomer receives the first extraterrestrial radio signal ever picked up on Earth. As the world powers scramble to decipher the message and decide upon a course of action, she must make some difficult decisions between her beliefs, the truth, and reality.