In a game called Stellaris (space 4x type game) you can find primitive civilizations and infiltrate their society and basically take control through the shadows.
This is not an outlandish idea.
Basically humanity was headed towards a slave colony, or has been one. The best kind of prison is the one with no walls and the prisoners don't even know they are in one.
To certain entities, emotion is food. Some feed of fear, chaos and violence... Hence the ritual sacrifices, endless wars, mass media scaring everyone.
You must be open-minded. The space force wasn't created by accident and UFO declasses are dropping.
Also remember this, if there are baddy ETs, there a good ETs.
It's still hard for me to wrap my head around the 1 idea. If aliens had the technology to cross the stars and visit us, wouldn't they have the technology to entirely enslave us at any time if they wished? Would there even be a chance of uprising against such a species?
If it's interdimensional, the theories surrounding that suggest we'd have more of a chance.
This way is easier, we don't know what technology has been introduced by them to further their control