I Watch Movies: Arrival
I had read Ted Chiang’s The Story of Your Life, the story the film was based on, and although it was some years ago it had stuck with me (like about half of Chiang’s stories). So I knew what the aliens were up to and the twist.
A film is more than its twist, and that is so much the case with this one. Which is not to say that it isn’t absolutely put together so well, with the prologue leaking into the middle of the film, to become a revelation at the climax.
But this is a science fiction film, and the science is linguistics. Which is cool, though I am terrible at languages (Full disclosure, I have GCSEs in French and German but have not kept them up; I can read most of most menus and make my way through simple directions and leaflets (and comically badly translate the back of wine bottles)) and also fascinated by them. And this film does its best, occasionally linking the science to the plot and the characters.
The film leans on Amy Adams’ central performance and she holds it up. It’s like this: the film works as a meditative piece of science fiction, and as a claustrophobic thriller, but it really works as an examination of Adams' character and how she grows up and comes out of her shell, pushing herself forward into the role of mother of a new age of humanity.
Watch This: For a science fiction film with some actual science, a paradigm shifting finale and a strong central performance
Don’t Watch This: If you want fights or clarity
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