This movie does everything possible to claim that it's based on a real story. It's not. It's a marketing gimmick, like War of the Worlds. The good people of Alaska were so incensed by the misrepresentations that they sued Universal and won.
That said, there are many reviewers on this site and elsewhere who are fiercely outraged over the "deception." To me, that suggests that they are embarrassed that they initially fell for the obvious shtick. No other emotions are really generated by this film -- it's half fake-documentary with obvious actors playing the "real" people, and half "dramatic portrayal" of a story that was exceedingly dull and non-terrifying. If you have a deep-seated phobia about aliens who appear as owls and make you levitate, then perhaps you'll be scared. Or, like the vast majority of the reviewers who gave the movie a 10-star rating, you believe that you too have been abducted by aliens and the government is even now listening to you breathe.
Rational viewers who haven't yet been abducted by E.T. are more likely to see this film and utter, "Meh."
That said, there are many reviewers on this site and elsewhere who are fiercely outraged over the "deception." To me, that suggests that they are embarrassed that they initially fell for the obvious shtick. No other emotions are really generated by this film -- it's half fake-documentary with obvious actors playing the "real" people, and half "dramatic portrayal" of a story that was exceedingly dull and non-terrifying. If you have a deep-seated phobia about aliens who appear as owls and make you levitate, then perhaps you'll be scared. Or, like the vast majority of the reviewers who gave the movie a 10-star rating, you believe that you too have been abducted by aliens and the government is even now listening to you breathe.
Rational viewers who haven't yet been abducted by E.T. are more likely to see this film and utter, "Meh."