How Long Is “The Fourth Kind”?

(2009) As Spielberg taught the world in his 1977 blockbuster, the third kind of alien encounter is contact. Apparently the fourth kind is abduction, and Olatunde Osunsanmi's sci-fi thriller purports to tell the story of what happened to a number of people who disappeared in Nome, Alaska. Based on real events, the film juxtaposes supposedly archive footage of therapy sessions with dramatic reconstructions as Dr Abigail Tyler (Milla Jovovich) investigates the uncanny similarities in the testimony of a number of her insomniac patients. A split screen format is used to establish a sense of authenticity, and fans of the genre should find sufficient jolts and paranoia to satisfy their appetites.