A smart sci-fi film which couldn't be more relevant or timely:

Rating: 10/10 (12 November 2016)

As a fan of science-fiction, I'm routinely disappointed in the intelligence and scope of the average sci-fi film. The last few years have been a boon, with intelligent films like "Moon," "Gravity," "Her," "Ex Machina," and "The Martian" receiving wide release. These films use the tools of science-fiction to mine introspective and philosophical themes, to allegorically say something about human nature.
And so it is with "Arrival." And yet, even though my expectations were set reasonably high by the trailer, I still found myself shocked by just how deeply interesting, powerful and moving this film was. In my mind, this film immediately joined the ranks of such all-time science-fiction film classics as "2001" and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind."
The plot involves Amy Adams as a linguist, and Jeremy Renner as a scientist, both contracted by the military to try to establish meaningful communications with an alien race who have mysteriously appeared, hovering in an egg-like ship, somewhere in the majestic back-country of Montana. The ship is one of 12 which have appeared worldwide -- and so the race is on, as the US and its allies vie to crack the linguistic code before China or Russia. Fears that the aliens might prove malicious hang, omnipresent, over every move.
This could certainly be the plot of a fun, lightweight genre piece. But "Arrival" takes a more considered, more meditative approach. Rather than dispense with its heavy themes lightly, it examines them curiously, finds them more interesting the deeper it looks, builds its entire story around them. This is a film which rewards thought. The pacing of the film, which is very deliberate but not what I'd call slow, might owe something to Andrei Tarkovsky, the famous Russian director "Stalker" and "Solaris," two of the slowest but most hypnotic and profound science-fiction films you're ever likely to see. Come to think of it, many of the sets in "Arrival," as well as the camera- placement and lighting, reminded me of Tarkovsky's work.
No review of "Arrival" could be complete without mentioning something about the film's surprising third-act. This is likely to go down in cinematic history as one of the best "mindblowing" third-acts ever made. I felt a rush comparable to what I felt the moment I first learned the secret of "The Matrix" -- and yet, here, the "twist" is so poetic, so natural, so obvious in retrospect, that it really stands alone as a thing of greatness. It's a big thought, presented elegantly. But make no mistake -- the greatness of the ending is well-earned by the film preceding it.
I have to say that this movie did a number on me. There's this thing that happens when I see a movie that actually respects my intelligence, where I become moved by even the smallest directorial decisions, because they feel so right.
"Arrival" drew me in almost immediately, with its intimate and ultra-realistic depiction of how Amy Adams' linguist, Dr. Louise Banks, learns of the arrival of the ships. She actually gets the news kind of late. It finds her in the middle of a class she's teaching, as several students' phones start chiming with texts. She's asked by one of her students to turn on the classroom TV. After she does, they all just sit there, stunned, watching the news- footage, not knowing how to react. An alarm goes off, the building is cleared, and everyone is sent home. These scenes play out with crystalline logic; the film observes them closely, without comment or bogus emotional cues. A meditative, nervous score percolates beneath.
And here I've described the feeling and the texture of this film, and given you many reasons to see it -- but I haven't even begun to tell you what it's about. Well, doing so would take a lengthy conversation; this film contains some very big ideas.
But more than anything else, this is a film about the power of language. A popular scientific theory, discussed by the characters in "Arrival" but dating back to at least George Orwell's "1984" and its concern with "NewSpeak," holds that language actually shapes thought, and not the other way around. Vocabulary and syntax: We're introduced to these concepts before we even know what they are; from our earliest days we're taught the linguistic labels for things, for actions, for emotions and desires -- and we're taught to connect these words in specific ways, in patterns which convey specific meanings. The form of a question differs from the form of a statement. We just learn these things, most of us, and it gives shape to the way we think. Language and thought: Irrevocably intertwined.
To what degree is our perception of the world based entirely upon the language we use to describe it and interact with it?
That is what "The Arrival" is about, at its deepest level. It's also about a lot more. It's about a woman coming to terms with grief; it's about a world poised on the brink of war; it's about the fears which divide us; and it's about the bravery -- the trust and the risk -- that it takes to come together again. It's about the miracle of empathy. Arriving hot on the heels of a very polarizing election, when anxieties and animosity are high, this film's messages couldn't be more relevant or timely.