National Film Vault

FILM NOTES

Universal Pictures released E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial in June 1982, directed by Steven Spielberg at the height of his commercial and artistic powers. The film became the highest-grossing release of its time, displacing Star Wars, and remains a defining work of the New Hollywood era's transition into blockbuster filmmaking. Its blend of suburban realism and science fiction wonder made it a cultural touchstone that continues to resonate across generations of audiences.

This cell, titled Keys, captures three consecutive frames of Michael lying back and enveloped in protective plastic sheeting, filmed from above in the stark, clinical atmosphere of the government containment sequence. The overhead angle and repeated framing across the strip give the cell an almost documentary stillness, preserving a quiet, unsettling moment from one of the film's most emotionally charged passages.