Arrival

Next year, director Denis Villeneuve will finally continue the story of Replicants and the Agents who hunt them on the big screen in Blade Runner 2049. In the meantime, Villeneuve has another thought provoking sci-fi film for us, Arrival, a strong expansion of Ted Chiang's short story, Story of Your Life.

Dr. Louise Banks (Amy Adams) expected another average day when the Earth stood still. That's when twelve UFOS touched down all over the world. She's summoned to Montana by Col. Weber (Forest Whitaker) to communicate with the aliens there. These Heptapods, "Abbott" and "Costello," communicate the best with their written language, which can construct a non-linear sentence in one symbol. Louise and her team, including physicist Ian (Jeremy Renner), make progress with the Heptapods.

Meanwhile, a few other Governments jump the gun and prepare for a War of the Worlds. Louise's team is told to prepare for the worst. She just has to decipher the Heptapods' purpose before it's too late. And by doing so, she'll find what's waiting for her in a few years.

Villeneueve and screenwriter Eric Heisserer maintain a great suspenseful tone for 116 minutes. A bunch of people crowded around the TV news perfectly establishes the magnitude of first contact. The first appearance of the Heptapods is built up slowly and surely until the big moment. Even then, we find out what we first see is not their whole appearance! We feel the tension from the rising military/lingual conflict even when we only hear about most of it.

The technical crew make the most of the $47 million budget. The visual effects are eerie and magnificent and I imagine would most astound in IMAX (which I did not see this in). The interior of the Heptapod ship works by the same principle. Johann Johannsson's score is just as foreboding and memorable as his work last year for Sicario. The sound designers' best accomplishment is the eerie whale song with which the Heptapods vocalize. Editor Joe Walker and cinematographer Bradford Young contribute spectacularly to the melancholic tone.

Adams' performance is the best of the cast. She says a lot with out acting a lot. We feel every bit of her emotions as a result. Renner makes a likable foil, while Whittaker is a good reasonable authority figure. General Shang (Tzi Ma), the Chinese General essential to the conflict, doesn't appear in person until the end. But we feel his presence throughout the story.

Arrival is a lot smarter than most of the loudest Alien invasion thrillers. It's a testament to how language can avert conflict. It leaves the audience a lot to think about clairvoyance and predestination. It especially proves that you don't need to spend much to make much. This is a film that needs to be seen on the big screen. It's a great warm-up for Blade Runner 2049.