Arrival (2016)

Genre

Drama | Sci-Fi

Director

Denis Villeneuve

Country

USA

Cast

Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker, Michael Stuhlbarg, Tzi Ma, Mark O'Brien

Storyline

When twelve mysterious spacecrafts appear around the world, linguistic expert Louise Banks (Amy Adams) is tasked with interpreting the language of the alien visitors.

Opinion

After that poor excuse of a science-fiction movie "Passengers" was, I was really looking forward to "Arrival" as everyone said how good it was. And they were right, "Arrival" is indeed a thrilling sci-fi masterpiece and an extraordinary thought-provoking film.

Based on Ted Chiang's book, the well paced and engaging story isn't the typical alien invasion we get with blockbusters, but it's something completely different. The encounter with the aliens indeed is a confrontation between two cultures. This is the focus of the film, the struggle to communicate, which unfortunately is an issues still nowadays.

It also deals with the fear of the unknown, but the most important part - at least it was to me - is the intimate human side of the story whose incredible emotional power makes the film for a fantastic experience. How is that? Because it teaches to accept the finitude beauty of life. To enjoy every single moment. And I say no more. I don't want to spoil it for you.

However, the real reason this film works is the characters. They are not the typical clichéd plot devices very common in films of this genre, but they feel like actual people I was able to connect with almost immediately. And it's probably because the main character is a woman, a strong woman that uses her knowledge and skills to change the world. And it's properly developed. And wonderfully portrayed by Amy Adams who gives a superb, moving and vulnerable performance (only to be robbed of an Oscar nomination).

The greatness of "Arrival" doesn't stop there. The film in fact features a cinematography by Bradford Young that is not nothing short of breathtaking, and a wonderful musical score composed by Johann Johannsson. Not to mention the production design. Simply mind blowing.