This is what I have to say about this film, it is the scariest movie I have ever seen in my life. Not because of cheap jump scares or anything modern horror does. It follows a trope created by H.P Lovecraft called (not surprisingly) Lovecraftian horror, it deals with the unknown and what is outside of our grasp to comprehend and how we as a race are completely insignificant. That scares the life out of me and this movie has the perfect premise to do that. To get an idea for this trope, read At the Mountain of Madness or watch the Rick and Morty episode "Get Schwifty".
The Story - 10/10
The movie starts off with aliens arriving in their ships on earth and they can't speak our language, so the army hires Louise (Amy Adams) who is a translator to help. I love that because about 99% of alien movies don't deal with what would actually happen. We would think they would be able to understand us thanks to some kind of technology but not in this movie. We can't understand a thing that they say and we want to know if they want to kill us or not and why are they here. I will say that the movie is very slow paced and that for me is what makes it more scary, because looking at the unknown for long periods of time makes me have nightmares. These aliens can't speak our languages like English, German, Mandarin and French and so on and we can't speak theirs. We are so different from them that they have to make a room for the humans to breathe in there and they are separated by a glass window because we don't breath what they breathe. I won't give away how we figure out how to communicate with them, but it is very intriguing and gripping. The ending as well goes full science fiction but with more science, but you really need to pay attention for that because it has one heck of a twist.
The Characters - 9/10
Amy Adams is amazing in this movie. She has to be the most sympathetic character in the movie and even more so with the ending, again with a clever twist. She is determined to try and talk to these aliens and see what they are trying to do on Earth. I have been hearing a fair amount of Oscar buzz about this performance and to be honest, I am expecting her to be nominated.
Jeremy Renner I have to admit was not very memorable in this movie but from what I do remember is that he did try as had as Amy Adams to talk to these aliens and understand their motives. He does provide some useful information to the movie but essentially he is like a calculator a high school students would use to do his maths homework. But hey at least he isn't pointless.
Forest Whitaker plays the army colonel who has Amy Adams come to the landing site to communicate with the aliens. One thing I can't stand in movies is the military because they are always annoyingly officious and callous. But he pulls off a performance that is surprisingly understanding of the situation that our main characters are in.
The Science Fiction - 10/10
With all said and done, this still a science fiction movie and it actually works well in a realistic setting. I have to talk about the Lovecraftian stuff again, sorry. The type of horror this movie uses is dealing with what is outside our grasp to understand. The aliens open up a whole new type of universe we never saw coming and there is an unfamiliar type existence we are now aware of. It forces a feeling of dread, disgust and fear that what is unknown comes crashing down onto us. Because most science fiction says that humanity is the centre of the universe but this movie flips that idea on its head and made me think this. Do these aliens really give a crap about us? Because another problem the humans have to face is other nations attacking the aliens and thinking that they can beat them when we are really ants to them. This works because the aliens don't attack us immediately so we have to figure out why they are here soon.
Overall this is an intriguing movie and don't go in thinking its going to be like Doctor Strange because it is not. The atmosphere is amazing, the cinematography is beautiful and it is scary if you are familiar with science fiction.
I am giving it a perfect 10/10
I do not own any of these pictures. Arrival is owned by Filmnation Entertainment, Lava Bear Films, 21 Laps Entertainment and Paramount Pictures.
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