Arrival (2016)

Rewatched 3/7/24 (the internet)

“What if Close Encounters but through more of a combative geopolitical lens and therefore more true to life” is such a riveting (and apparently longwinded) idea for a movie. Too bad The Day the Earth Stood Still already did it pre-Spielberg. And Robby Z’s Contact (which really muffs that final act sheesh) post-Spielberg. But I am not going to compare this to those—Arrival charts its own pain train of a course. It hits differently.

I don’t think the structure or imagery of this movie are anywhere near as gratifying as Close Encounters, but a lot of the ideas meet in concept and often exceed in ambition those present in Spielberg’s alien flick. While there are the occasional modern turn-offs like over-imposed metaphors and trauma-laden flashbacks, the “flashbacks” in particular are so creatively used that one can’t help but be won over by them and the sheer brainpower on display by this script. I think these are probably Villeneuve’s least-interesting visuals, but everything else in his filmography is so good in that department that that low-blow critique is kind of moot.

Very much to Arrival’s credit, the brawny militarism of Whitaker and co. juxtaposed against the heady emotionality and reasonability of the scientists in this is the more realistic battle that Close Encounters ultimately doesn’t wage, but it’s also an extra layer that doesn’t have as much mystery as CE. I’m conflicted on it. Seriously spectacular and intimate dividends are paid in the last 20 minutes of both movies. We also feel our stomachs drop in both movies as we realize abandoned children and dead children are the end results. It’s tough to love these movies but oh-so-easy to be hyperactively stimulated by them. I mean really, this one turns into the sister A-word movie of Garland’s Annihilation, the feel-bad sci-fi movie duo of our generation. But this screenplay is just smart as fuck.

The first half is a bit leisurely in its setup, with the characters coming off as slightly 2D—plot movers more than characters. But when the second half puts its foot on the pedal it hums. It’s just 60 straight minutes of your screen being drenched in international, inter-dimensional tension, you realize that this movie has WAY more on its mind than your average extra-terrestrial movie. The structural revelations and setups/payoffs are really something to behold… And! And they’re in really safe hands with such a gifted visual filmmaker and such expressive, captivating leads when the script finally allows them to be. The way these puzzle pieces all fall together is as beautiful as it is tragic. It’s a great melting-pot of a movie, a bunch of great elements coming together—and despite the prevalence of similar praise, I must say—it’s a great thinker. Plus—man, lying to kids used as dramatic irony is so fucked up—this movie takes no prisoners (Villeneuve pun intended).

@Christopher Nolan this is the kind of time-bending script that you wish you could write. It actually makes sense!

8.5/10