A nice slow burn...to nowhere.

Rating: 4/10 (13 August 2017)

We thought this sounded interesting so we streamed it via Amazon. It got off to a good start by keeping the pace slow while introducing us to the main character and what makes her tick. All good films spend time doing this, rather than jumping straight into a screenful of CGI explosions and wrecks.The intrigue built as we saw the mysterious ships and then their occupants with which our hero must communicate to see why they are here. Sadly, the story gets a bit up itself at this point, with memories of her dead child intruding (for no good reason as far I could see) and see rather too many visits to the 'interview room' on board the spacecraft as the aliens' language is (kind of) revealed. The denouement (such as it is) comes when it turns out the scientists have mistaken the word 'language' for 'weapon' (like you tend to do) and the whole global panic was for nothing. End of movie, cue a load of sentimental babble, roll the credits. Thank the Lord it cost us nothing extra. One more point - will someone PLEASE tell young American actors to stop whispering and slurring? I missed a lot of Amy Adams' dialogue because of it.