An hard shell hiding a spongy core.

Rating: 7/10 (11 November 2016)

Aliens appear, but there is a language barrier. Amy Adams is called in to talk to them.
I don't mind a high brow, slow, pretentious movie. Just as well, this film crawls along with plenty of flash backs and shots of people looking wistfully into the distance.
It is nice to see sci-fi being treated with a more cerebral tilt than normal. But the intellectual shell camouflages a very stupid premise. So if you do this it allows you to do this? Really? Even Star trek would struggle to get away with that one.
There is very little action and I did not feel any sense of foreboding about the situation.
On the positive side this is a very emotional, stirring movie. The relationship of the central character and her daughter is both charming and moving. The film is well made and the interaction between alien and human has some interesting moments.