Arrival: A Thought Provoking Film For Sci-Fi Lovers

Rating: 9/10 (13 November 2016)

Dennis Villeneuve has created yet another excellent feature to add to his growing list of hits. Arrival is a visually stunning, thought provoking film that will keep the audience captivated from beginning to end. If you've seen Christopher Nolan's Interstellar, you'll notice many similar elements that have come to be a custom of the Sci-Fi genre.
Arrival follows the protagonist Louise, a college professor and a leading figure in language translation, as she attempts to understand an alien language in hopes of answering one simple question, what it is that brought them to Earth.12 alien ships, giant black totem shaped stones, spread throughout earth with its' intents unknown to the world. It starts off as a race between nations to discover the secret of communicating with these beings. I would best describe them as tall octopus like creatures, with each of their long tentacles being used as their way of communication, releasing ink to create shapes and figures. There's a concise message on just how important language is to civilizations, and how the slightest misinterpretation could lead to devastating results.
My last take away will be to praise Villeneuve's pacing of the film, he does it in such a way that reveals nothing too soon, but at the same time just enough to let the audience decide for themselves what the culmination of everything they've seen is leading towards. I look forward to watching the future work of an incredible film maker.