A close enconter with being great

Rating: 6/10 (26 April 2017)

Plot; When 12 alien ships arrive and take up positions around the globe, a linguist is tasked with finding a way to communicate with them and decipher their intent.
Taking its cues from films like Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Contact, Arrival works best early on, navigating us through the mystery of the titular arrival and the character's attempts to communicate with the aliens. All the while it lays the breadcrumbs for a third act reveal (I'd hesitate to use the word twist here) that may not satisfy everyone. I come away feeling the need to ponder it a bit more, but feeling certain that it gets short shrift in an all too quick tie up that undercuts its impact.