Slow-paced, disappointing reveal.

Rating: 4/10 (24 November 2016)

(Originally published on my blog, whingewood.wordpress.com)
Based on the trailers I'd seen for this, I was quite excited to go and see it. I enjoyed Sicario (another film directed by Denis Villeneuve), so I was optimistic.
The basic idea of the film (spaceships arrive, they wait for us to communicate with them, some governments go mental, mass hysteria, etc) seems 'realistic' to me, so for a large part of the film I was engrossed, even though the film moves at a snail's pace.
Throughout the film you are sledgehammered with clues ('Your father is a scientist. SCIENCE! He likes science!'), which eventually build up to the 'reveal'. Personally, I found it a massive disappointment. Trying not to give spoilers, but it sort of invalidates the actions of nearly everyone else in the film.
The slow pace and disappointing ending made this film a gruelling experience. However, I think this is a film that will firmly divide opinion, it's just that I sit on the negative side of that divide.