Review: Arrival

Arrival (12A)

USA 2016 116 mins Dir: Denis Villeneuve Cast: Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forrest Whitaker, Michael Stuhlbarg, Tzi Ma

The idea of first contact with an alien species has pre-occupied sci-fi cinema since the very early days (think The Day the Earth Stood Still), so when a filmmaker can rejuvenate our interest in such an overworked topic, not to mention restore our faith in the genre as a whole, it’s well worth noting. It’s no surprise that the director responsible is atmosphere master Denis Villeneuve, the man behind the ruthlessly escalating tension of Incendies, Prisoners, Enemy and Sicario, and who now translates his characteristic intelligence into the sci-fi milieu of Arrival.

Adapted by Eric Heisserer from Ted Chiang’s short text Story of Your Life, it’s all told from the point of view of a tremendous, tremulous Amy Adams, delivering a superbly empathetic performance devoid of histrionics that both feeds off, and helps further inform, the understated atmosphere of the movie. She plays lingustics expert Dr. Louise Banks, a woman caught in the midst of the arrival of 12 monolithic alien vessels at strategic points throughout the globe.

Enlisted by Colonel Weber (Forrest Whitaker, somewhat underused), Louise finds herself working alongside warm and relatable scientist Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner) to become a vital point of contact between humans and aliens, although the presence of wary Agent Halpern (Michael Stuhlbarg) keeps tension high. With nations like China on standby for potential war, Louise immediately recognises the fundamental importance of shared communication and looks to decode the alien language in order to help glean their intentions.

The film may be cloaked in sci-fi trappings but the very essence of the storyline is rooted in the principles of centuries-old communication: it’s both a celebration of words and an intriguing examination of how a simple misreading can threaten to spiral into conflict. It isn’t for nothing that the obliteration of Australia’s Aboriginal tribes is explicitly cited by Louise at one point. The rendering of the aliens themselves (tantalisingly set up by the most dizzyingly brilliant anti-gravity sequence in recent memory) is made all the more powerful by the discretion of the special effects, rarely giving us the complete view but instead allowing our imaginations full reign.

That the film has arrived in the wake of the stupendously empty Independence Day: Resurgence and at the same time as the American Presidential result only fuels its power further. This is truly a time when we’re craving intelligent science fiction not just in terms of cinematic entertainment, but in order to look back at ourselves as a species. Make no mistake, Arrival is a classic genre movie for how it uses extraterrestrial iconography to hold up a mirror to very human concerns, less Michael Bay and more Close Encounters of the Third Kind, or Robert Zemeckis’ Contact.

The movie grapples with big themes and unashamedly expects the audience to keep up; it’s also a feast for the senses with Bradford Young’s expert lensing of the towering ships and Johan Johansson’s eerie, undulating score creating a genuine sense of otherness. Yet it’s also a profound statement about the nature of time: what happens when our crude, linear perceptions of such a concept are shattered by interaction with beings who see it so differently? To reveal more would entail a spoiler; suffice it to say that the impact on Adams’ central character is truly moving and redemptive, grounding the fantastical elements in something truly relatable.

Although not without its flaws (the relentlessly stately atmosphere threatens to become airless and a subplot involved a disgruntled soldier fails to develop into anything interesting), Arrival is remarkable for how it looks to the stars yet ultimately finds its most compelling resonances at ground level. If this heralds the arrival of yet more brainy sci-fi in future, that moment in time can’t come soon enough.