Good film with cheating story telling

Rating: 7/10 (14 March 2017)

This review is spoiler free, so I have to be wary of saying too much. I hope anybody who has seen the film gets my gist. I liked Arrival and it is a good film. Amy Adams is stellar throughout and she really carries the film. The concept is intriguing and thought provoking and I enjoyed it, but I was left with a few "why" questions so I needed to watch parts of the film again. Some people have said they had some problem following the ending of the film and that is their fault. The film makes very clear what has happened. However if you remember the beginning, that's where your confusion will come. They surprise us by using nefarious tactics to ensure that we are surprised by the film's end. Considering how strong the topics of this film are, it's a shame they copped out with tricky story telling to add to our suspense, especially considering how suspenseful the story is. It's not smart sci-fi as a result and it should have been