The Sci-Fi Drama the World Needs, But NOT the One It Deserves

Rating: 10/10 (18 November 2016)

There's nothing scarier than the unknown, yet the unknown is the only sure thing. All that's real is what has already arrived; luckily, the truth of love can never fully depart. Though time causes the pain of endings, the love we experience is always worth it. What does all this have to do with alien-invasion-drama Arrival? Everything. A visually mesmerizing, aurally overwhelming, emotionally disruptive, narratively surprising, and thematically pulsing sci-fi film for the ages, it's not to be missed. The setup is familiar: a group of UFOs appear over different cities all over Earth, and a small group of disparate humans must lead all humanity towards an understanding of their purpose. However, Independence Day this is not. More suspenseful than thrilling, it's high-minded science fiction whose slow and steady pace only emboldens its immense engagement. Think the best aspects of Kubrick and Spielberg: brainy ideas and complex visuals, mixed with spectacle and humanism. For example, on first entering the alien ship, we experience: characters' shifting sense of gravity, fear giving way to wonder then back again, the prescient difficulty of communicating across impossible boundaries. Villeneuve, who's becoming one of the greatest directors of our time, embodies such meaning into each of these moments. Even lines like, "I forgot how good it felt to be held by you," carry meaning beyond their clichés. Its intelligent sci-fi style brought to mind Close Encounters, Tree of Life, Interstellar, and fourth film I won't mention. Just know that time and awareness are huge throughout, leading to a final montage that brought me to tears for the first time this cinematic year. Arrival is an absolutely stunning achievement from beginning to end.