An Amy Adams vehicle and she shines.

Rating: 6/10 (1 December 2017)

+ Amy Adams was magnificent in this film. She played a thoughtful, intelligent and somewhat vulnerable woman (with inner strength) in a movie that served as a vehicle for her.
+ The film itself was, like Amy's performance, thoughtful and intelligent. It pulls you in and keeps you emotionally invested (mostly because of Amy Adams' performance) until the 'reveal/climax' of the film.
+ The Aliens are different from most others we have encountered in films. This alone makes it a worthy sci-fi watch.
The rest of the characters were not fully developed in the least:
I thought Forest Whitaker - who demanded answers, who took orders from superiors who likewise demanded answers - needed to have these interactions explored.
Likewise, Jeremy Renner's character deserved some airtime as the lead "science-guy" and his close work with Adams. He, like Whitaker, served as window dressing to Adams. There were no other characters of note in this film... In this sense, the film lacked depth as it was all focused on Adams.
The ending - or rather - the reason for the Alien visit and what that visit meant to the main character was so far-fetched that I could not suspend disbelief. I say this as a huge sci-fi fan who can suspend disbelief on sci-fi B-movie stuff over 1/2 a century old. So it's a good thing I was disappointed at the very end because I enjoyed the film thoroughly up until the great reveal.
Despite some of the negatives, the majority of the film was a pleasure to watch. I was starved for an emotionally rich and thoughtful character and this film filled that void. I wish that the reason for the Alien visit was different because this film would have been an 8 rating. A 9 if the other characters were developed a little more.
The ending itself was atrocious. I would rate this a 6 overall on a first viewing (it's a 9 through the first part, an 8 in the middle and a 3 at the end). It's not the kind of film you look forward to watching a second time but I highly recommend a first viewing.