Contact is a film mainly about faith, faith in yourself to do what is right and faith in others that they do right by you. It's also a film about belief, and whether we, as human beings should be forced to justify what we believe in when there is no physical proof that the focus of our belief actually exists. It's also a film about hope, and love, and life, and death.
The whole concept of the movie is based not on the question of whether extraterrestrial life exists, but whether what we believe should be determined by what we can prove.
The main character in the film is Dr. Ellie Arroway who is the head of the SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) project. Ellie is a woman whose purpose in life is to scan the heavens for the possibility of alien life, and she has dedicated the last fifteen years doing so after the deaths of her father and mother.
Miss Ellie
English: Ellie Cachette
Ellie WoodcombAfter the mathematical message, assumed to be from aliens, is received, Ellie shows her determination by finding out more, which ends up in her taking a trip to outer space. The visit changes the way she looks at the world and the concept of humanity itself. Ellie is a woman not driven by ambition or materialism, but by her curiosity. She believes in science and its logical principles, but towards the end her feelings change and she starts to question her whole understanding of life.
Ellie is intelligent, brave and proud but, in a strange way, a little naive in the way that she thinks her incredible discovery will be left untouched. Elli is a person who would ask questions and would not believe in something straight away, she needs some sort of proof to back up...