Film

UFO

Name: UFO
Genre: Science Fiction, Thriller, Mystery
Released: 2018
Cast: Alex Sharp, Gillian Anderson, Ella Purnell, David Strathairn, Brian Bowman

Other titles called UFO: the 1970 series (ITV1).

A sharp-minded college student witnesses a UFO and becomes obsessed with proving what he saw, racing against the FBI to solve the mystery. It's a taut, cerebral thriller that treats the paranormal seriously, grounded in fractured relationships and the cost of obsession. For people who love Close Encounters' wonder filtered through a darker, more skeptical lens.

TMDb rating

3.5

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Arrival2016

Linguist and mathematician at the center of first contact with aliens. Cerebral, beautiful, and genuinely moving. Treats the encounter as a puzzle to be solved, not spectacle to be consumed.

But Paced deliberately. If you want aliens and action, you'll find it slow. Some find the ending emotionally devastating rather than uplifting.

Midnight Special2016

A father protects his son from the government while uncovering what the boy actually is. Mysterious, intimate, and builds dread beautifully. Jeff Nichols makes paranoia feel personal.

But Answers come slowly and obliquely. The film trusts you to sit with questions. Impatient viewers find it frustrating rather than intriguing.

Searching2018

A father uses his computer skills to track his missing daughter. Like UFO, it's all logic and pattern-finding, but turned inward. Gripping and surprisingly emotional despite its gimmick.

But Entirely set on screens—desktop, phone, laptop. If you hate that visual constraint, nothing here will change your mind.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from UFO

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Knowing2009

Both center on a man convinced he's decoded a conspiracy, following mathematical clues others dismiss. Both are absolutely sincere about the paranoia.

Nicolas Cage finds a coded prediction of disasters buried in a time capsule. Shares UFO's obsessive protagonist chasing a pattern nobody else sees—but escalates into apocalyptic stakes. Sincere dread throughout.

But Cage's reputation precedes it; people dismiss it unheard. The ending is genuinely bleak and theologically heavy, not reassuring. The script sometimes strains.

The Vast of Night2019

1950s radio operator and switchboard operator chase a mysterious signal in their small town. Gorgeous, playful, and obsessed with the thrill of investigation. Real chemistry between leads.

But The mystery is more interesting than its solution. Many find the ending disappoints after such a strong setup.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind1977

Spielberg's masterpiece: a man becomes fixated on a UFO encounter and can't stop chasing it. The obsession itself is the story. Visually stunning and deeply strange.

But Nearly 140 minutes. The pacing is hypnotic but not fast. Some find the ending too reverent, others find it earned.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind poster

Enemy Mine1985

Soldier stranded with an alien enemy must survive together. Explores what it means to understand the incomprehensible. Sincere, strange, and surprisingly affecting.

But Low budget shows. The alien effects are dated. Earnestness without slick production can feel awkward to modern viewers.

Dark City1998

A man wakes with no memory while a noir city hides impossible secrets. Like UFO, it's about piecing together reality. Visually distinctive, conceptually bold, endlessly rewatchable.

But The theatrical cut is confusing by design. Plot takes a back seat to mood and atmosphere. If you need clarity, this will frustrate you.

Predestination2014

A time-traveling agent pursues a criminal across decades. Mind-bending, mathematically precise, and genuinely shocking. Rewarding to watch twice.

But The twist divides viewers hard. Some find it brilliant, others feel tricked. The second act meanders before the payoff.

The Signal2014

Three MIT students hack a signal and find themselves hunted. It's got the obsessive math-nerd energy and escalating paranoia of UFO, with body horror for stakes.

But Tonally all over the place. Shifts from hacker thriller to sci-fi horror awkwardly. The ending will feel either clever or ridiculous depending on your patience.

The Phenomenon2020

Same DNA as UFO but inverted: instead of obsessively investigating the inexplicable, the protagonist learns to live with unanswered questions. Both respect the mystery more than the solution.

John Travolta wakes to find himself changed by something unknowable. A quiet, humanistic take on the alien encounter—less about solving the mystery than accepting you can't. Genuinely moving.

But Almost aggressively understated. There are no action sequences or reveals. It's a character study disguised as sci-fi. Slow burns don't work for everyone.

The OA2016

Both believe their audience is intelligent enough to handle mystery without immediate payoff. Both build paranoia through character relationships rather than exposition. Both trust the viewer to sit with strangeness.

A blind woman returns with sight and impossible knowledge, recruiting strangers for a mysterious purpose. Serialized, audacious, and genuinely weird in ways that feel earned. Dimension-hopping cosmology built carefully.

But Netflix cancelled it on a cliffhanger. Watching it means accepting incompleteness. The show is strange enough that 'unfinished' stings worse than usual. Requires real patience.