Movies on the Lawn: ET

A ten-year-old boy in a California suburb discovers an alien botanist accidentally left behind by his crew, hides him in his bedroom, and spends the rest of the film trying to get him home before the government does. Elliott, his older brother, and his little sister Gertie form a makeshift family around their strange houseguest, communicating through a psychic link that lets them share feelings across distance. Spielberg made it as a children’s film and then didn’t soften a thing — the loneliness is real, the bureaucratic menace is real, and the ending earns every tear. John Williams wrote the score. It remains one of the highest-grossing films ever made. Rated PG.

Part of Tarrytown House Estate’s Movies on the Lawn series, held on the estate grounds above the Hudson. Screenings begin around sunset. Check the estate’s series page for what to bring, food and drink service, and the rain plan.