Arrival - Movie Review

Would you change things?

Arrival was definitely one of the most pleasant surprises I have ever experienced at the theater. Even though I went in hearing a lot of buzz and knowing that it was directed by Denis Villeneuve, who has recently become my favorite director of all time, I still was not prepared for this masterclass of filmmaking. Most “alien invasion” films involve humanity getting locked in an all out war of survival with the extra-terrestrial invaders. Bombs and missiles exploding all around, cities on fire, tanks getting blown up with laser beams you get the picture. But with some stellar acting performances, a haunting score, and atmospheric cinematography, Villeneuve is able to produce one of the most tense and realistic feeling alien movies ever made.

The film begins with a quick series of moments between Louise Banks and her daughter Hannah, from Hannah’s birth up until her death as a young teenager from an illness. Louise has a pretty ordinary and uneventful life as a linguistics professor at a university. That is, until the day that they arrive. Twelve strange spacecraft have appeared across the globe, and their occupants intentions are unknown. The United States government immediately reaches out to Louis for her experience in translating. Louise has to race against the clock to find out what the visitors’ purpose is before the world’s militaries are pressured into taking matters into their own hands.

Arrival was released on November 11, 2016 and went on to gross a completely unexpected $203.4 million on a budget of $47 million. It was directed by Denis Villeneuve who was coming off of the critical successes of Prisoners and Sicario. The spec script written by Eric Heisserer was adapted from the 1998 short story Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang. The late Jóhann Jóhannsson, who scored Prisoners and Sicario returned to provide the music for this film, while Villeneuve’s usual director of photography Roger Deakins was not able to work on Arrival due to a scheduling conflict. The cinematography was instead handled by Bradford Young, who in my opinion emulated Deakins’ style perfectly, whether he intended to or not. Arrival received eight Academy Award nominations, but did not win many due to the awards dominance of La La Land (probably another film that I will analyze). The film holds a 94% critic score and an 82% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

The entire cast is amazing, but Amy Adams gives a particularly emotional and affecting performance and she once again proves herself to be one of the most versatile and talented actresses in the world. The score and the cinematography combine to create a tense, foreboding atmosphere throughout the film. Denis Villeneuve once again proves himself to be the most talented director working today by creating his third masterpiece in a row (he has subsequently delivered two more since). I love the unique take this movie brings to the sci-fi genre, particularly the alien invasion story. It is probably the most realistic and plausible scenario of what would happen if aliens actually did land on Earth. I mean, I really don’t think that we would just start blasting without knowing what their purpose is or whether or not we even have the technological capability of defeating them. I also love how the story highlights the importance of language and why it is crucial to understand the differences and subtleties between languages to avoid critical misunderstandings. I wish I could say what I love most about this film, but unfortunately I can’t without spoiling it. All I will say is that there is a writing trick that this film pulls off that caused all of the hairs on my body to stand on end, my spine stiffened up, and I’m pretty sure that my mouth was actually agape.

I can’t reveal what the main Christian theme in this film is without spoiling a major plot point, but I will talk about it in depth in my article next week analyzing the Christian themes of this movie. I encourage you all to watch this film with your families. This film is appropriate for all ages.

Arrival is free to watch on Pluto TV and is available to rent on Prime Video.

God Bless You All

Michael