Arrival, the review.

Based on the 1998 short story "Story of your life", Dennis Villeneuve's "Arrival" is a scientifically accurate view of how humanity deals with their first alien encounter which follows the main protagonist Louise Banks, (Amy Adams). The film begins with linguist teacher Dr Banks playing with her young daughter Hannah, we see many other scenes of her grow older into a teenager and watch her succumb to cancer. The name Hannah is a palindrome which gives us our first clue of how the infinite loops work and how they are connected to the film as a whole. This all takes place before the main story line is seen. Immediately, we assume this is her past. The film then fast forwards into the present which is depicted that she is living an average life. Until we see that during a class of hers the world is shocked to learn that 12 extra terrestrial ships have landed in random locations across the globe. She is soon enlisted in the U.S army to translate communications. At this specific point in the film non of the characters know if they are there to help or pose threat, which leads us to the main theme and question of the story, why are they here? Over the course of the film, Dr Louise Banks patiently tries to work out their purpose on Earth by learning the non linear way that they communicate through inky like circles which have specific shapes. As she learns more of this language she starts having visions of her deceased daughter more frequently. It is at this point where the audience begins to get an idea about the path the storyline will take. The film has many references to a non-linear time sequence such as her daughters name, we later discover that learning the languages abeles you to see your future. The protagonists begin to unveil the truth behind their arrival. In 3000 years they will need the help of humanity and learning their language is key.


Humanity feels threatened by the other worldly beings and start to come up with reasons for starting war, this reflects on human behaviour throughout history and to the present. In my personal opinion, this film is a lot more scientifically accurate compared to other classic alien films. Arrival shares similarities with Christopher Nolan's "Interstellar"with both of them being set on the same timeline and a more accurate representation of humanities thoughts towards these issues. I loved this film, it differs from you're typical sci-fi film. It has originality and a realistic representation of other life forms.