takes a seemingly overplayed scenario and makes it worthwhile

Rating: Null/10 (2 January 2019)

Louise Banks is a despondent linguist and university professor who's recruited by the U.S. Army when extraterrestrial spacecrafts appear in various locations around the world. Why have they come? What do they want? Are their intentions hostile or friendly? Paired with a reticent physicist at an encampment in Montana, these are some of the many questions she's tasked with trying to determine while tensions mount throughout the rest of the world. Riveting and intelligent sci-fi drama has a premise that sounds all-too-familiar, but it's meticulously detailed, convincingly acted, and masterfully edited, with just the right mix of gloom and uncertainty to keep you guessing. Adams is brilliant, conveying various stages of grief, empathy, and vulnerability, with solid support from Renner, Whitaker, and Stuhlbarg. ***