The Fabelmans looks set to be Spielberg’s most personal film – after ET, that is

Four decades after its release, ‘ET: The Extra-Terrestrial’ is both a period piece and as topical as ever, writes Geoffrey Macnab. It’s also worth revisiting in time for Spielberg’s next film, which is reportedly just as autobiographical. Sans the alien, presumably

Steven Spielberg directs Henry Thomas on the set of ‘ET’ (Shutterstock)

A boy is subjected to horrific antisemitic abuse at his new school. Kids throw coins on the floor as he walks past and leave bagels in his locker. He is called “a k***” and punched in the face.

Exacerbating the boy’s misery is the divorce of his parents; one of the darkest traumas of his childhood, brought on after his mother starts an affair with a family friend.

The boy in question is Steven Spielberg. One surefire way to combat the bullies is to make films and cast his tormentors in prominent roles. Spielberg has been in love with the movies ever since he was taken to see Cecil B DeMille’s 1952 romance The Greatest Show on Earth when he was only five.