Quartile rating: 5.5/10 · 1 rating
Dr. Steven Greer’s previous works, SIRIUS and UNACKNOWLEDGED, broke crowdfunding records and ignited a grassroots movement. CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE FIFTH KIND features groundbreaking video and photographic evidence and supporting interviews from prominent figures such as Adam Curry of Princeton’s PEAR Lab; legendary civil rights attorney Daniel Sheehan, and Dr. Russell Targ, who headed the CIA’s top secret remote viewing program. Their message: For thousands of people, contact has begun. This is their story.
Close Encounters of the Fifth Kind is a Steven Greer-produced UFO documentary that largely retreads familiar conspiracy and contact territory covered in his prior films. The 'plot' is essentially a collection of testimonials and alleged video evidence stitched together by Greer's narration, which is repetitive and self-referential rather than rigorously structured. Acting is not applicable in a traditional sense, but interview subjects range from credulous to mildly compelling — nothing exceptional. Cinematography is functional at best; the documentary relies heavily on shaky phone footage, night-sky recordings, and talking-head interviews with little visual distinction. Novelty is limited — the CE5 protocol and Greer's overarching thesis have been presented across multiple prior films, and this entry adds little new conceptually or stylistically. The ending offers no resolution or revelatory payoff, closing on the same aspirational but unsubstantiated notes the film began with. A watchable but derivative entry in the UFO documentary genre.