Beautifully made

Rating: 9/10 (12 February 2017)

Arrival is a fantastically smart Sci-Fi film that takes the run-of- the-mill 'Aliens land on Earth' plot and flip it on its head. Amy Adams delivered a masterful performance as a brilliant linguist with what seem like flashbacks of her dying daughter. She is chosen by the US Government to decipher an unknown alien language alongside a physicist named Ian so they can communicate with the one of 12 alien spaceships to figure out their purpose on Earth. As tensions rise around the globe, Louise and Ian are put under tremendous stress to find out why the aliens came to Earth.
The setting in Montana gives a stunningly beautiful backdrop for this incredible yet perplexing spacecraft. The environmental CGI is stunning yet just subtle enough to be believable and not distracting from the emotion and story line and the aliens are beautiful and surreal. Their squid like bodies and the way they write is scary and thrilling to watch. Louise's daughters story is heart wrenching as the flashbacks to watch the cut scenes are soft and feel as if you are stepping into a memory rather than seeing what's going to happen in the future. The score is beautiful also. The soft horns really set the mood and filter emotions to you through sound along with the visuals. It is perfectly balanced to enhance the film and to not be overbearing and distracting. The story is so well thought out and unique that every moment captures the audience's attention and keeps them on the edge of their seat wondering what turn is going to be taken next. It keeps you confused and disoriented along with Louise as she tries to fit the puzzle pieces together until it delivers one mind bending yet brilliant plot twist at the end, throwing a wrench into reality itself. There were a few parts that quite seriously irritated me though. Like the fact that a government official thought that a linguist could decipher and alien language from a short recording of a few weird noises. Sorry but not even the US government could be that naive. Also, the bombing of the spaceship literally made no sense to me. There were a couple of others but despite these perplexing events this movie is an incredible watch and keeps you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.