Denis Villeneuve continues his streak of excellence with a Sci-Fi that is sure to be thought of as a masterpiece for many years to come.

Rating: 10/10 (1 November 2016)

Denis Villeneuve's Arrival is Science Fiction at it's absolute deepest and most profound. It's a thinking mans film that forces you to find your own interpretations. Sure to follow in the footsteps of the likes of Blade Runner, Children of Men and maybe even 2001: A Space Odyssey (a bit of a stretch) in the many years to come. The French-Canadian director has crafted what is likely to be the best film he will ever make.
Arrival does more than just provoke thought. It invites question, it craves understanding and most importantly it deserves dissecting, hopefully from someone who is a much smarter writer than I. I think the most interesting thing about this film is how it approaches the alien species. It's not your typical "take over the world" fiasco climaxing in an action packed third act. It's a slow, mesmerising film focusing on the comprehending of language as a barrier of communication between different beings.
There are many themes present throughout the film in which all leave you pondering the relativity to human life. There's the fear of the unknown and the overcoming of powerlessness. The importance of family and the meaning it brings. The questioning of existence within the vast scope of the universe. The misunderstanding of time and relativity. The retaliation of world leaders through misinterpretation of situations, in such a scenario we would be first to act before truly grasping the purpose of an alien species, we would automatically assume annihilation. Just as we do in real world predicaments.
Instead what Arrival does is completely flip the notion on it's head. Not coming to us through means of destruction but through means of aid. There's much to the species left to be unveiled, their appearance stands out above anything we have seen before. Although it is minutely brought up their purpose is never truly explained leaving ambiguity and comprehension.
Perhaps the strongest aspect here is how Amy Adams' own personal story unfolds within the narrative. Films that start with the ending are usually predictable in their execution due to the fact it's obvious that it's the ending but with Arrival that doesn't appear to be the case. There's no scenes of bloated exposition so the audience can grasp what is happening, here Denis uses that to his strengths. We're not supposed to fully fathom the themes expressed as that would defeat their purpose.
Denis Villeneuve is a man i would just love to sit down and talk to for 2 hours. He's one of the most interesting and original directors to enter the limelight in the past 10 years. How he even managed to come up with such a story in the first place is just completely baffling to me. This isn't a film, this is an experience, and no amount of words I write on a website is going to create that experience for you. You just need to get your ass down to a theatre.