EVERY so often a film comes along that does something truly special, subverts expectations, surprises and astonishes, paying homage to the greats of its genres while still doing something singular and unforgettable. Arrival is one such film.
Rarely has our protagonist’s role in society been so perfectly functional for the plot going forward yet so unusual for the heroine of a film of this size and scope. She’s Dr Louise Banks (Amy Adams), a linguistics expert who arrives at her school to teach as usual when she notices a strange buzz of uncertainty in the air.
She soon learns that a dozen identical, oval-shaped alien crafts have mysteriously appeared in various, seemingly random places around the globe. She is then called in by the government and US Army to help figure out what exactly the extra-terrestrial visitors want from us and, most importantly, if they pose any sort of threat to humanity.
To do this she has to enter one of the spaceships – alongside mathematician Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner) and US Army Colonel Weber (Forest Whitaker) – at the inexplicably designated point once every 18 hours and try to work out some way to communicate with beings that don’t speak any earthly language; close encounters of the word kind, if you will.
If you’re looking for explosive alien battles then I’m afraid you’ll need to look elsewhere. This a thinking person’s sci-fi, not at all interested in the bombastic, hyperactive spectacle regularly found in the multiplexes these days – it’s more Interstellar than Independence Day.
Expanding out the short story Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang, director Denis Villeneuve continues his impressive winning streak following the likes of Prisoners, Enemy and most recently Sicario with what is a truly beautiful, mesmerising piece of sci-fi drama – a visual feast thanks to Bradford Young’s resplendent cinematography and an audio one with Jóhann Jóhannsson’s ethereal score.
There’s a grace to the way the film approaches its ideas, a sense of ambition and provocative questioning about everything from human communication and working together to better ourselves to our place in the universe that tease and intrigue without being trite or offering up any easy answers. It’s pure cinema that treats its audience with the utmost intelligence and respect.
Equipped with Eric Heisserer’s inspired and multifaceted script, Villeneuve uses its far-reaching ideas to explore complex and deeply resonant human emotion. Adams is a wonderful emotional anchor in that sense, conveying vulnerability, grace and strength at times with a mere glance as her character goes about carrying out an unusual but crucial responsibility.
All the while we get fleeting glimpses of a past tragedy that emotionally towers over her life as much as the 1,500 feet tall arriving alien crafts now physically do. It’s impressive to see Villeneuve carry over his favoured theme of deeply personal trauma into such a visual, visceral sci-fi story.
It impressively builds a beautiful yet unnerving sense of momentum and impending doom – stemming from the characters’ uncertainty about the intentions of the other-worldly visitors and the seemingly futile attempts at communication with them - towards an ending that’s both thought-provoking and genuinely surprising.
It’s stunningly well put together, chock full of sophisticated concepts that are also rooted in humanity and awash with stunning, haunting and engulfing imagery that makes it a truly cinematic experience in every way. This is the perfect mix of craft, ambition and emotion that’s undoubtedly one of the year’s best films.
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