Close Encounter
2026 · 12m · USA
Directed by Jeph Porter
A skeptical teen joins her UFO-obsessed father at a convention — then an actual encounter brings them closer.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
DUST sci-fi short about a UFO convention bringing dad and teen closer — 12 minutes of feel-good that ends with someone learning a lesson. Pass.
DUST programming with a twelve-minute virtual-production family dramedy — a competent genre exercise that names Spielberg's earlier work as its DNA. Curatorially familiar territory; the formal gesture (intimacy through LED volume) is interesting but unproven on this scale.
DUST repost with 247K views in two months and only a 3:39 trailer — the page is selling spectacle, not the indie family-drama intimacy the premise claims. Virtual production for intimacy is an interesting bet, but I can't verify the execution from this footprint.