A smart, thought-provoking science fiction masterpiece.

Rating: 10/10 (12 November 2018)

I think the term "thought provoking" is often overused when describing things. For me, a film fits that description when it causes me to keep thinking about the film's message long after the credits roll; when it open my mind to a new way of observing or thinking about the world.
If you only watched the few half an hour or so of Arrival, you may conclude that it is a run-of-the-mill movie about alien contact and its impact on human society. Yawn. But if you watch the movie all the way to the end, Arrival reveals itself to be something far, far greater than that.
Arrival's aliens, the heptapods, are not a stereotypical hollywood alien race. They don't "arrive" to conquer, or to introduce us to the rest of the galaxy. They arrive to give humanity a gift: A new way of perceiving time. Even if that gift can only be truly experienced by Louise, the main character, "Arrival" gives the audience an opportunity to try to truly understand simultaneous awareness.
This is Arrival's core strength. It offers a truly deep examination of what it would be like to experience all of our lives at once. It explores how that changed mode of awareness would affect our language, our mathematics, and our choices.
There are many, many differences between Arrival and the short it is based on, "Story of your life," but Arrival manages to masterfully adapt the short's core message to the form of a film.
Oh, and it doesn't hurt that the acting, cinematography, music, and direction are all stellar as well.