As is the case with any year in film, the heavy hitters all come to bat at the year's end. Denis Villeneuve's "Arrival" leads the pack of Oscar contenders, followed by an innumerable amount of dramas all poised to make plays during awards season. 2016 has been an incredible year for film, starting with indie hits from A24 and will wrap up with the debut of Martin Scorsese's long-awaited film, "Silence". With plenty of films to follow, does Villeneuve's film set the bar high? In short, yes it does.
"Arrival" is an entry into a new field of science-fiction: psychological sci-fi. Pioneered with Kubrick's "2001", this subset of sci-fi asks the big questions early and often. Ideas regarding the nature of man and other existential theory are frequent. "Arrival", despite taking place on earth, ponders language.
While other alien films such as "Independence Day" are more occupied with how these aliens can be defeated, "Arrival" is occupied on what can be learned from them. Instead of dressing the scenario up to be larger than life, Eric Heisserer's script is grounded in a hyper-realistic tale. The viewer never questions the reality of the events on screen. Aided by career-defining performances by Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner, it becomes extremely easy to be drawn into the film. While it starts slow, it does so to build character depth, all to the effect of engrossing the audience and having them buy into the events on screen. Their characters are realistic, and their relationship does not feel forced. Despite the fate of humanity resting in their hands, the small moments between the two are intimate and give depth.
"Arrival" is not about "Us vs. Them". It is more than that. Its commentary on humanity is strikingly valid. In a world where the global community is becoming more insular, it is important to ponder what is lost. Massive events in history bring societies together, whether for better for worse.
This is as much as the plot I will disclose in this review. I cannot tell you about the "twist" that six million clickbait websites have already blown well out of proportion. I can only say that Denis Villeneuve has not only crafted a film worthy of awards talk but one that affirms his position as one of the best new directors in Hollywood. Arrival sets the bar very high for the rest of awards season and deserves the acclaim it is receiving.
