How do you make a documentary about something that has never happened? Better yet, how do you make a documentary about something that may never happen? Herein lies the beauty of THE VISIT.

World scientists and government officials confront a hypothetical alien visit to Earth. The film acts as a simulation for this encounter, forcing us to consider and plan logistically and morally for an event we are used to thinking of in an abstract and general manner, assuming we are aware of their arrival and can communicate in one form or another. A particularly compelling aspect of this film is the way in which it turns an alien encounter into a mirror for humanity. Will they like us, one interviewee ponders. What will they see in us? How will we choose to present ourselves? Will we be sad if they leave, knowing now that they exist? On the flip side, the questions these scientists, military leaders, UN personnel, and government officials imagine asking the new arrivals are questions we have been contemplating ourselves for millennia: Why are you here? What makes you happy? Do you know what is good and what is evil?

THE VISIT is an engrossing film, begging questions on imagination, preparation, and the intersection between the two.