10 Terrifying Alien Abduction Movies of the 21st Century

What can be more terrifying than being abducted by an entity from another world or dimension? To be under the control of a presence literally and figurately so alien, you have no way of gleaning the machinations of their minds and intentions.

The world was exposed to the UFO and abduction phenomena in a serious way back in 1977 with the release of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Over the next three decades, only a few movies would plumb the depths of alien terror, such as author Whitely Strieber’s abduction account in Communion (the book is even more chilling) or Travis Walton’s Fire in the Sky.

The floodgates for celluloid abduction nightmares truly opened at the turn of the century. Suddenly, UFO/abduction movies were everywhere. Maybe it was the dawning of a new century, a new age, with the promise of reaching further into the stars, and maybe those stars reaching further into us. Or maybe it came from the adolescence of found footage flicks, which seem to dominate this strange and curious sub-genre. With 60 years of bizarre sightings and experiences under our collective belt, this could be our way of seeking answers.

No matter what the cause, for people like me, the 21st century has been a smorgasbord of high strangeness and extraterrestrial conundrums. Want to get me to drop everything? Tell me there’s a new UFO movie or documentary. Sure, they mostly explore the same material, but I can’t help being drawn in the way Travis Walton was sucked into an alien ship.

Because I watch them all, I thought it best to share 10 modern alien abduction movies that should scratch that ET itch. Ditch the tin foil hat and boil some potatoes. We’re about to stare into the abyss. Check out the trailers and head to your nearest streaming device. Things are about to get eerie.

10. The Fourth Kind (2009)

9. The Phoenix Incident (2015)

8. The Forgotten (2004)

7. Altered

6. Dark Skies (2013)

5. Phoenix Forgotten

4. The Gracefield Incident

3. Alien Abduction (2014)

2. Beyond the Sky (2018)

1. Extraterrestrial