It's beautiful.

Rating: 9/10 (4 December 2016)

I don't mean just the cinematography when I say that "Arrival" is a beautiful movie, even though the movie surely looks good and visually portrays everything exactly as it intends to, but it's beautiful at its core - the story and the emotions it evokes in the process. I don't want to spoil anything and I'd advise you to refrain from watching any trailers to avoid spoilers.
"Arrival" is both sci-fi and drama, very well shot and mostly well paced. It is not an action movie. Director Denis Villeneuve does not disappoint, and he's becoming my favorite working film director very fast. There's one thing that he excels at - building the tension and emotional stakes in a way that's admirable. He doesn't need to use obvious exposition or action set pieces to make a point. Nothing has to be spelled out for the audience (although some things in this movie are), and he can just let the moments speak for themselves. It's really subtle and effective at the same time without going full art-house. "Arrival" is sometimes subtle, sometimes not, but it absolutely nails the story it's trying to tell. The original story (called "Story of Your Life") is written by Ted Chiang and Eric Heisserer wrote the screenplay. I haven't read either, but based on this movie, the material might be very good.
Amy Adams plays the main role as a linguistics expert. She is very good, and there is that certain kind of confused melancholy she needs to convey through her expressions alone, and she nails it. All other roles could have been played by anyone. I'm not saying that everyone else is bad (I do like Jeremy Renner and Forest Whitaker), I'm saying that there was no room for anyone else to shine - and in this case, it's a positive. It's essential for the focus and the narrative, and the movie works partly because of it. Amy Adams is at the forefront and center and she's very good. With lesser talent, the story would have lost much of its impact.
The story is great. It's simple, both emotional and intellectual, and it has layers. It's told well, it's not overly ambiguous, it's not too grand and it's certainly not pretentious. Some people are saying that this movie is hard to understand, but I don't think that's the case. Some people will be disappointed about the lack of explosions and action, and will find "Arrival" boring. At times it can be kind of boring, but in the right way. There's intensity to it even when nothing is seemingly happening and the story is dished out to you in ways you don't even understand right away, which again goes to show how good Denis Villeneuve is at what he does.
The intellectual sci-fi part of the story is about communication, our concept of language and even the restraints that language can instill into our capability to imagine foreign concepts when we're dealing with something very difficult to interpret, something very alien. The emotional part is something very humane and also about having difficulties about understanding something: understanding life, love and death and the meanings we try to assign to those things because we just can't be at peace with them.
After leaving the theater, I've been in a melancholic, ponderous state of mind, thinking about the very basic human emotions and questions. Mostly love, death, and the simple things in between. I probably sound like a hipster now, but don't worry, this is not a pretentious hipster movie. It just strikes through that certain psychological barricade many of us have built for ourselves, and makes us really feel something pure again, like children. Even if those pure things can be quite sad.
If I have to complain about something, It'd be for just a few things: at some point of the movie, we get narration from a character we'd never expect. I don't like narration in movies, and I don't like narrative changes from one character to another. It's not a big deal, it doesn't last long and it also works in favor of the movie (info dump for the audience), but it felt a little off and made the pacing feel weird for a while. There was also a short subplot to create excitement, and it felt unnaturally rushed and simple when compared to the rest of the movie.
That's it, no more gripes. Visually, this movie is great. It's not trying to impress you, it's not about some forced "look at what we can do" imagery, but simple, beautiful and effective as means to tell a story and set up a mood. Cinematography is great, the effects are good and everything works together.
Prepare your ears for beautiful, haunting sounds and music. Max Richter's "On the Nature of Daylight" can very well make some of you cry (and some of you will also recognize it from "Shutter Island"), and otherwise the score is full of atmosphere and ambiance when it needs that punch. Sound engineers deserve some credit too, because there are some very interesting sound effects in this movie. Saying anything about them could be considered a spoiler, so I won't.
I thought "Hacksaw Ridge" would be my favorite movie of this year, but after seeing "Arrival" I'm not so sure anymore. Both are great in very different ways. This one is certainly more subdued and artistic, but both have lots of beauty and impact to them. The impact of "Arrival" isn't a punch to the face, immediately felt, while "Arrival" will grow on you. I've been thinking about it for a few hours now after seeing it, and it just feels better and better. Recommended for anyone who wants their sci-fi to be about human emotions and drama, not about flashing lights. I can take both, but I'm glad how this one turned out. It's a beautiful, touching story with interesting sci-fi elements.