Arrival
Directed by Denis Villeneuve
Starring Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker, Michael Stuhlbarg
[rating: 5/5]
Reviewed by Michael Dalton
The alien vessels perched at various spots around the globe look like enormous pumice stones, the aliens themselves look like spiders, and the world is holding its collective breath. Arrival is Denis Villeneuve’s latest film and certainly his finest, and it leaves no doubt he is one of the most exciting, visionary directors in cinema today. Not for him the Independence Day slam bang visuals that now pass for entertainment, nor the petrified screams that would erupt from any other heroine confronted with the spectacle that his finds here. This heroine absorbs it, studies it, and reaches out to it, further than the men she’s surrounded by have the nerve to. To be fair, Arrival isn’t a horror movie. Science fiction it is, first and foremost, but the typical display of pyrotechnics is absent. It is a studied film, well paced, absorbing, and far-reaching. As he did with Sicario, Enemy, and the devastating Incendies, Villeneuve prefers to keep us a few feet further back than his contemporaries would allow and let his players walk the walk. Few other directors today are this willing to let their characters take a beat or two and feel it so we can do the same. He trusts his characters to be, as they say, “in the moment”. I’m in the minority regarding his breakthrough hit Prisoners. It was well planned and Jake Gyllenhaal created another fine lived-in character but then Villeneuve allowed leading man Hugh Jackman to over-glower and he drew out the grueling torture sequence to the point of tedium. It had a corker of a finale and it was atmospherically strong but the subtlety of his other work was missing in action. Arrival however, is something else.
At first we’re teased with only glimpses of the vessels on newsfeeds. We soon learn there are twelve in locations such as China, Siberia, and Pakistan but the one we’ll visit with has almost touched down in Montana. They’re suspended some twenty feet above the ground, opening up at 18 hour intervals to allow the military and appointed scientists to board. Louise Banks (Amy Adams), a linguistics expert, and theoretical physicist Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner) have been appointed by Colonel Webber (Forest Whitaker) to try and dissect the language of these visitors, known as heptapods due to their seven legs and eventually nicknamed Abbott and Costello, and if not, at least open up a line of communication while CIA Agent Halpern (Michael Stuhlbarg) is on hand to monitor any hostilities. “How about we just talk to them?” suggests Louise.
Once inside, where gravity vanishes, Louise’s urgent breaths from inside her space suit and her ever widening eyes pull us into the action. These creatures don’t bare their fangs or scoot along the walls threateningly but they do have remarkable penmanship. The encounters are overwhelming rather than frightening and Villeneuve expertly utilises Johan Johansson’s droning score. It throbs like almighty warning shots, and seems to freeze the chamber as Louise moves towards the two visitors lurking behind the glass.
Naturally, nothing in Villeneuve’s universe is so simple (he obviously revels in the tangles of the story) but to reveal any more, as some critics have foolishly done, would do the film a disservice. The memory-laden narrative, which in its own way recalls the mind-bending 2014 odyssey Predestination, demands your absolute attention, and may finally leave your head spinning. It’s worth noting that screenwriter Eric Heisserer, who adapted the short story by Ted Chiang , wanted to go with the author’s original title, Story of Your Life. Too top heavy perhaps? Regardless, the director and writer make a dynamic duo and they’ve delivered a visually stunning and deeply moving film. And, just as Tom Ford lucked out with Adams in Nocturnal Animals, also opening this week, Villeneuve enjoys the same luxury. She’s backed by fine actors again but it is she you’ll remember. Her resilience, empathy, and emotional connection allow Arrival a heartbeat, and it’s steady and sound.
