★ ★ ★ ★

½





Arrival’s first act. In Denis Villeneuve’s most adventurous film yet, twelve spaceships hover metres above the ground in countries across the world. Army Colonel Weber (Whitaker) enlists linguistics expert Louise Banks (Adams) and theoretical physicist Ian Donnelly (Renner) to attempt rudimentary communication with their visitors, to discover their ultimate intention. Someone a few rows below me clears their throat, and suddenly I realise that for the past 40 minutes, no-one in the cinema has made a sound. This moment came as Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner and Forest Whitaker slowly advance into the belly of an alien spaceship; the culmination of’s first act. In Denis Villeneuve’s most adventurous film yet, twelve spaceships hover metres above the ground in countries across the world. Army Colonel Weber (Whitaker) enlists linguistics expert Louise Banks (Adams) and theoretical physicist Ian Donnelly (Renner) to attempt rudimentary communication with their visitors, to discover their ultimate intention.





Arrival is that I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite like it. Oh, elements of the plot are comparable to sci-fi thinkers like Interstellar and alien invasion fare such as Independence Day and The Day the Earth Stood Still, but the experience of seeing this for the first time was utterly unique. For one thing, it’s the first time I’ve ever physically sensed a movie dividing the audience. While that innocent cough I mentioned previously seemed to shake many from some kind of trance, it seemed a rallying call for an equal number of others to fidget or rummage around for another piece of popcorn. This divide was clear as the credits rolled, and personified by my party of three in particular: I loved it, another found it gripping up to a point, and the other found it interminably dull. Quite possibly my favourite thing aboutis that I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite like it. Oh, elements of the plot are comparable to sci-fi thinkers likeand alien invasion fare such asand, but the experience of seeing this for the first time was utterly unique. For one thing, it’s the first time I’ve ever physically sensed a movie dividing the audience. While that innocent cough I mentioned previously seemed to shake many from some kind of trance, it seemed a rallying call for an equal number of others to fidget or rummage around for another piece of popcorn. This divide was clear as the credits rolled, and personified by my party of three in particular: I loved it, another found it gripping up to a point, and the other found it interminably dull.





Interstellar, packed with an emotionally-charged parent-child dynamic to boot. However, whilst McConaughey’s character was constantly awash with philosophical wonderings and scientific know-how, Adams’ is the closest we’ve come to seeing a believably ‘normal’ person being sucked into the maelstrom of military action, political uncertainty and media hysteria that constitutes first contact. Its filmic construction is also a change from the norm: that looming spaceship isn’t necessarily there to frighten or devastate, but to enthral, its featureless black shell an empty space in the skyline onto which we project our fears and questions. To relay these anxieties is Banks, giving us a similar bugs-eye view as Cooper from, packed with an emotionally-charged parent-child dynamic to boot. However, whilst McConaughey’s character was constantly awash with philosophical wonderings and scientific know-how, Adams’ is the closest we’ve come to seeing a believably ‘normal’ person being sucked into the maelstrom of military action, political uncertainty and media hysteria that constitutes first contact.





Man of Steel), but without the shackles of a franchise, her character is allowed a level of depth more deserving of Adams’ talent. Here, she employs what I call the Saoirse Ronan effect of looking ‘eyesore’; conveying great pain, awe and misplacement through her gaze alone. It takes an awful lot to make varying levels of confusion and fear interesting for two hours, but Adams makes it unbelievably gripping. Renner is playing the comic relief to a certain extent, but it’s more Hurt Locker than Hawkeye (smart without falling into snarky). Plus, both leads actually look like they could do Banks and Donnelly’s jobs for real. Despite the slight, unavoidable shimmer of Hollywood make-up, they’re not glamourized, particularly as they spend a great deal of time enveloped in clumsy, eye-wateringly orange hazmat suits. This is not her first time making a close encounter (see), but without the shackles of a franchise, her character is allowed a level of depth more deserving of Adams’ talent. Here, she employs what I call the Saoirse Ronan effect of looking ‘eyesore’; conveying great pain, awe and misplacement through her gaze alone. It takes an awful lot to make varying levels of confusion and fear interesting for two hours, but Adams makes it unbelievably gripping. Renner is playing the comic relief to a certain extent, but it’s morethan Hawkeye (smart without falling into snarky). Plus, both leads actuallylike they could do Banks and Donnelly’s jobs for real. Despite the slight, unavoidable shimmer of Hollywood make-up, they’re not glamourized, particularly as they spend a great deal of time enveloped in clumsy, eye-wateringly orange hazmat suits.





Visually, it’s a different tale. Bradford Young’s photography is polished to a mirror shine, doing more with blacks and whites than most cinematographers do with an entire rainbow, and Jóhann Jóhannsson’s score doesn’t come packed with the overwrought aggressiveness that’s so vehemently put me off his previous soundtracks. In fact, his work for here is quite the opposite: it slinks elegantly across the background before suddenly catching you out. At the apex of a simply flawless panning shot – in which Villeneuve and Young finally reveal the ominous black shell hanging over the Montana plains – Jóhannsson kicks the strings into motion, and an eerie wail sends a visible shiver through the audience.





really about them, the aliens are nothing radical to look at. Their method of communication is remarkable, for sure, but it’s a cerebral wonder as much as a physical one, and the only special effect in attendance at the extraordinary finale is reserved purely for your brain. Some dodgy CG hair aside, the visual wizardry is minimalist and beautiful, employed only when necessary and to incredible effect. Perhaps betraying that the film isn’tabout them, the aliens are nothing radical to look at. Their method of communication is remarkable, for sure, but it’s a cerebral wonder as much as a physical one, and the only special effect in attendance at the extraordinary finale is reserved purely for your brain.



