By John Corrado
The 2025 Hot Docs Film Festival ran from April 24th to May 4th in Toronto
In their aptly titled documentary They’re Here, co-directors Daniel Claridge and Pacho Velez introduce us to a group of UFO enthusiasts from upstate New York. They all claim to have their own experiences with sightings or encounters, some of which pre-date the government basically admitting that UFOs exist.
The film opens with Cookie, one of the main subjects, showing us the window on the side of her house where she claims to have been taken from. She sincerely talks about having been abducted fourteen times, and touring a high-tech alien ship (no water was provided, though, and she forgot to bring her own). She assures the interviewers that it’s okay if they don’t fully believe yet; it’s not their time.
The other subjects include Cookie’s friend Steve, who created his own UFO-themed board game; Twon, a struggling standup comic trying to make his deadpan alien jokes land in front of a crowd; and Dave, who made the local news for recording a video of an object going crazy in the sky. He describes this sighting in great detail, while also admitting that he was under the influence of mushrooms and marijuana at the time.
The documentary gives us just enough from each of the subjects, who all have their own unique personalities and eccentricities, to work as a quirky human interest film. But it’s also easy to wish that Claridge and Velez had gone just a little deeper into some of their lives, namely Cookie. The film also doesn’t go that deep into the actual aerial phenomena they have seen, focusing on them more as people instead.
As such, it can feel somewhat aimless at times, and the co-directors make a few stylistic choices at the end that don’t quite land. But, at a brief 74 minutes, They’re Here still works as a fun and enjoyable little portrait of these quirky true believers.
Film Rating: ★★½ (out of 4)
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