A troubled child summons the courage to help a friendly alien escape from Earth and return to his home planet.
After a gentle alien becomes stranded on Earth, the being is discovered and befriended by a young boy named Elliott (Henry Thomas). Bringing the extraterrestrial into his suburban California house, Elliott introduces E.T., as the alien is dubbed, to his brother and his little sister, Gertie (Drew Barrymore), and the children decide to keep its existence a secret. Soon, however, E.T. falls ill, resulting in government intervention and a dire situation for both Elliott and the alien.
“Once titled 'A Boy's Life', which should tell you all you need to know about the real star of the show — Henry Thomas’ Spielberg stand-in, Elliott — this knee-high view of a stagnant childhood and suburban world transformed by the glowing touch of the titular alien retains a sense of magic in almost every scene, even when we’re not dealing in flying bikes or glowing fingers.
“Cynics have often accused Steven Spielberg of being an arch manipulator, a peddler of mere sentiment, but the emotions here are complex if deceptively soufflé-light, the film dealing with divorce, dislocation and disenfranchisement. E.T. remains Spielberg’s most personal film, and his most affecting too.” - Empire