An epic journey exploring time and the human condition.

Rating: 10/10 (26 November 2016)

Arrival is the newest entry in the science fiction genre from director Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners, Sicario) starring Amy Adams (Batman v Superman) and Jeremy Renner (The Avengers). The film follows Dr. Louise Banks (Adams), a renowned linguist professor, and Ian Donnelly (Renner), a theoretical physicist, as they work together to communicate with extraterrestrials that have arrived on Earth. The stakes are high as the two scholars race against time to uncover the reason for the arrival of twelve enormous, oblong, black vessels and prevent a catastrophic war between humans and aliens. However, this is no ordinary alien invasion bursting with violence and bloodshed. Instead, this story adapted by Eric Heisserer (Final Destination 5, The Thing) and based on the story "Story of Your Life" by Ted Chiang focuses on the communication and rationality needed to prevent disaster. Villeneuve, with aid from cinematographer Bradford Young (Selma) and composer Johann Johannsson (The Theory of Everything), creates a vibrant, suspenseful world on the brink of global conflict. The vessels and aliens (named heptapods) have eerie, naturalistic sounds created by sound editor Sylvain Bellemare. The vessels sound like moving mountains, while the heptapods sounds like subaquatic creatures. These mysterious creatures have their own circular hieroglyphic written language that Dr. Banks must translate in order to dispel the tension and reveal the heptapods' true intentions.
Amy Adams drives the story with a spectacular performance. The long shots of Dr. Banks walking around the empty college campus post- invasion suggest the distinguished communicator has shut herself off from the world after the tragic death of her daughter. However, her curiosity and courage take center-stage as she challenges Colonel Weber (Forest Whitaker) and Ian to approach the heptapods using a humanistic approach instead of militaristic or scientific methods. This is emphasized when Louise erases a portion of Ian's mathematical equations without remorse to write the simple statement: "What is your purpose on Earth?" There are close-up shots of Louise and Ian as they venture into the strange vessel with their orange radiation suits. The camera focuses on their faces as they experience the fear of changing gravity, and their erratic breathing resonates as they approach the antechamber where the heptapods lie shrouded in mist behind a transparent glass barrier. Unlike her colleagues around the globe, Louise takes a simplistic, yet time-consuming approach in order to teach the heptapods English and understand their language. Her approach is criticized by Colonel Weber who wants quick results. However, she gains respect as she begins to understand and translate the language. As China and Russia threaten to start a war, Louise must uncover the truth behind her dreams and the alien language to prevent catastrophe in a shocking twist that only a small portion of viewers will decipher.
Arrival is an emotional, philosophical sci-fi film reminiscent of The Martian and Interstellar. Its use of the nonlinear storyline and ambiguous ending reminds us of Christopher Nolan's The Prestige and Inception. The beginning and ending of the film show a beautiful lake scene enhanced by the somber song "On the Nature of Daylight" by Max Richter. Villeneuve constructs a sociopolitical film on globalization, the media, and language. He creates a science fiction film based on people, not technology and highlights the importance of the humanities during a time in which the arts are under siege. The emotional story also explores time, life and death, love, and happiness. In one of the film's final lines, Villeneuve challenges the viewer with an ethical dilemma: "If you could see your whole life from start to finish, would you change things?"