Review: ARRIVAL is the Sad-Yet-Hopeful Film We Need Right Now
I hadn’t seen a single trailer for Arrival before watching it. In fact, I hadn’t seen any ads for it anywhere, which may say more about my life than it does about their advertising. So when I looked it up, I saw that it had two big-name actors, Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner, so I assumed it would be another alien invasion popcorn flick. This is not by any means an insult. I love those kinds of movies, but it would be hard to deny that it’s slowly becoming a tired genre. Lucky for us, this is not that type of film. Think more along the lines of Interstellar rather than Independence Day.
Amy Adams presents us with some of her best acting as Dr. Louise Banks, expert linguist who teams up with scientist Ian Donnelly— played by Jeremy Renner—to communicate with aliens who have landed in 12 seemingly random locations all over the earth. Their spaceships, if you can call them that, look both futuristic and neolithic all at once: smooth, black, and egg-shaped, they hover above the ground as if by magic. Clearly, they are a more advanced species, but their purpose for coming to earth is a mystery. Are they here to kill us or befriend us?
Banks has been employed by the U.S. government to figure out how to decipher the alien language and to help both parties to communicate with one another, which sounds complicated, but fortunately enough for the audience, this process is glossed over, and soon enough Banks is able to roughly communicate with the alien creatures. But with militaries all over the world threatening violence, Banks has to race to discover why the aliens came to earth—and whether they are a threat to humanity.
Arrival doesn’t present a lot of new material in terms of what would happen if aliens came to earth. There’s the typical pro-violence military personnel ready to nuke the aliens at a moment’s notice, as well as the scientists and intellectuals who think communication and understanding is the best plan of action. But what it does do is present a new way of thinking about the arrival of extraterrestrial beings. Amy Adams does a fantastic job of guiding us through this foreign emotional territory. She is both thoughtful and practical, often acting as the voice of reason. To me, this was probably the most realistic look at what would happen if aliens came to earth, as long as they didn’t immediately start killing us all. I was amazed at how realistic it seemed, despite the fact that it is indeed a science fiction film and that we have never had to deal with the complex emotions that would accompany an alien invasion.
The score is otherworldly and ambient, often reminiscent of Philip Glass. Composed by Jóhann Jóhannsson, the futuristic droning creates a mood that is both eerie and mournful, and often times it is hard to distinguish between the score and the alien language. I would say half the tension the audience feels comes from the fantastic score.
There’s a lot more to be said about this beautiful film, but I don’t want to spoil it. It’s definitely something everyone should see for themselves. If you’re a fan of science fiction that really delves into deep, philosophical questions about life and humanity, this is one you’re not going to want to miss.