Review: Arrival

Denis Villeneuve continues a career-making hot streak with Arrival. The French-Canadian director has made complex, personal films such as Enemy and complex, big idea films like Sicario. Arrival feels like a combination of both of those types of films while also trying to reimagine the standard alien invasion film. This is closer to Close Encounters of the Third Kind rather than Independence Day and Arrival stands as a remarkable entry into the genre for resisting an easier story.

Like all great sci-fi, the topical nature of the film applies to today's world in grand ways. Aliens arrive in a sequence that uses post 9/11 imagery to great effect. The alien crafts are these huge, lens-shaped dark objects that float above the earth's surface. We learn early on that the pods or ships open every 18 hours. This allows humans to enter. The film adds a nice touch by having the visitors bring a caged canary with them like miners do. Inside the pod, a glass wall separates mankind from the aliens. The aliens are squid-like creatures named "heptapods." The big question is why they are here.

Enter in linguist Dr. Louise Banks (Amy Adams) to help try and communicate with them. She is joined alongside physicist Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner) and a military officer (Forrest Whitaker). Arrival largely focuses on Banks as she attempts to communicate. Language and its percieved barriers become a major thematic element as the plot moves forward. To say much more would spoil the beautiful nature of Arrival. I will say that this is the most noble genre film to come along in some time. 

Villeneuve is firing on all cylinders here. Adams gives a wonderful performance as Banks and Renner is equally memorable. Bradford Young shoots the film in a striking way. Johann Johansson's score is among the year's best. All of these technical elements would be nothing without Eric Heisserer's emotional laden screenplay. This film delivers the aliens as you might expect but it also delivers one hell of an emotional punch that you may not be expecting. 

The best sci-fi films tend to become allegories for society. Arrival's message is crucial and needed. In creating this puzzling film, Villeneuve shows he can handle almost any genre. The film made this reviewer believe in the power of science fiction. This is a movie I wanted to call mine when it was done.

5/5