Teasing the brain

Rating: 8/10 (7 October 2017)

This is a fairly rare movie. Firstly that it is a science fiction that puts its emphasis on the first word, science, more than fiction. Of course, it's a made up story, with some decent special effects. But the interesting part is the story, and the growing understanding the character Louise gets as she tries to communicate with an alien species.
First contact movies is always interesting, especially those movies that doesn't go directly to action filled war movies. It raises questions about how the aliens look, act and communicate. The last is the focal point of this movie, as the expert Lousie Banks is brought in to learn how to communicate with the mysterious aliens. Lousie makes some headway, but soon also starts to experience strange dreams and memories. Can they help her solve the problem.
The dual mysteries of the alien language and Louise's dreams easily caught my attention and immediately made me think, speculate and guess my own solution. The movie made me take part in the puzzle, the mark of a really good movie. Unfortunately, someone decided that some extra drama was needed and inserted an attack of some fearful soldier, and the preparation of war by humans. Too much of a cliché for my taste, and actually unnecessary to make the story captivating enough. It seems like the writer/director didn't trust the scientific mystery to be enough. But in my opinion it took away more from the story than added to it.
Still it is a refreshingly good movie, that activates the viewer instead of passivating them. It raises more questions than it answers, in a good way, both about the story, but also about our own perception of the universe.
8/10