There's a particular subgenre of documentaries that can be described, more or less, as "look at these freaks." However, "They're Here" is not that type of film—at least, for the most part. This 74-minute documentary, directed by Daniel Claridge and Pacho Velez, is concise and engaging. It is presented as a human-centered exploration of alien encounters, featuring a series of interviews with members of upstate New York's substantial UFO community, who believe their lives have been influenced by extraterrestrial experiences.

Claridge and Velez maintain a very subtle approach throughout "They're Here." The film crew remains unseen, and they are only briefly heard, posing gentle questions to their subjects. The only instances where the documentary adopts a slightly mocking tone are in a few sporadic fantasy sequences interspersed among the interviews. In these sequences, subjects are depicted being beamed into the sky or reenacting UFO sightings with rudimentary special effects. The directors steer clear of making definitive statements about the reality of the subjects' experiences, focusing instead on the emotional truth rather than empirical evidence.

Conspiratorial thinking tends to be isolating; dedicating oneself to such beliefs often leads to social marginalization and questionable associations. Thus, it is particularly striking how "They're Here" emphasizes the strong social connections of its subjects, despite their self-reported encounters with extraterrestrial intelligences.

Dave, a resident of Scarsdale, believes he captured cellphone footage of an alien aircraft during a DIY psychedelic therapy session in a local park. He shares this experience with his siblings, talks about it with customers at the gas station where he works, and discusses his feelings of alienation with his mother, who admits she sometimes feels the same way. Cookie, a multiple-time abductee, founded a UFO meetup group in Rochester and supports her boyfriend Steve as he tries to recall his own close encounter through hypnosis. Steve, who invented a board game called "UFOria" to help players remember their alien encounters, receives Cookie's unwavering support.

A socially awkward stand-up comedian who struggles to connect with his audience over his UFO material can still share his jokes with his roommate, who, despite being skeptical, was present during the supposed UFO sighting. Cheryl Costa, a retired aerospace worker and UFO journalist, travels to give lectures on alien encounters to moderately attentive audiences. She also co-authored a reference book, which compiles 20 years of UFO sighting data into a hot pink volume, with her research partner and wife.

"They're Here" is primarily a collection of brief character studies that collectively form a gentle, focused portrait of a community, rather than following a single narrative arc. This structure can make it challenging to maintain focus—it might even be easier to watch in a relaxed state, as many viewers reportedly do with UFO-related media.

Despite the occasional blending of interviews, the central message of "They're Here" remains clear: We are not alone.