A young Earth man, presumably in a prehistoric time, encounters extraterrestrials in a glowing ship. He is bewildered, but the beings communicate to him a message of peace, and explain to him the reasons why he is resisting advancement to a higher existential plane. Above all, he is burdened with guilt over deeds from his past lives, not least that he was responsible for the annihilation of an entire civilization. With this close encounter, he has an option of choosing the way of love and light, or a continuum of lowly existence under the rule of dark forces.
This hour-long film was produced as a sort of explicative treatise, and possibly a recruitment device, for an esoteric organization called UNARIUS(which I presume is rooted in an astrophysical science/new age credo). I will refrain from further commentary on this, as I know little about it. On the film itself...it's a peculiar merging of outre eternalist musings with old-school tech futurism(think OMNI magazine, circa 1980). Clearly formulated under budgetary constraint with an amateur cast, it features some surprisingly skillful FX for the time. It's more interesting as a cultural oddity than anything else, but I think it could find an appreciative viewership within the brotherhood of WTF cinema obsessives.
A two-hour sequel is said to exist, called ROOTS OF THE EARTHMAN. Interestingly, it was made a year before THE ARRIVAL. A Unarian time-slip, perhaps?
5/10.
