Arrival

There are days that define your story beyond your life...

The director of Arrival, Denis Villeneuve, is known for making movies that resonate: visceral works of art that bounce around in your brain for days after viewing them. You may recognize some of Villeneuve's past works - Prisoners (2013), Enemy (2014), or Sicario (2015).

Arrival, clocking in at 116 minutes, tells the story of Dr. Louise Banks (Amy Adams), a linguist who is called in by the U.S. army to communicate with the inhabitants of an alien ship that lands in Montana.

A trend I've noticed throughout my movie-watching experiences is the victory that ensues when the tone of the movie is in sync with the essence of the protagonist. When the look and feel of the movie work together to show what makes the protagonist tick, the end product is satisfying every time.

That's the case for Arrival - the movie is just as intellectual, mysterious, complex, and somber as its leading player.  

As much as the topic of the movie is extraterrestrial, the story is grounded in humanity - the themes of globalism, cooperation, and communication weave through the narrative and shine in long reaction shots and vivid Terrence Malick-esque sequences.

Arrival also confidently walks the tightrope of not being too vague but trusting the intelligence of the audience - though it's not extremely difficult to understand, I definitely had to use my noggin to piece some stuff together.

I don't want to tell you anything about the aliens other than this: they're not what you're expecting and you won't be disappointed. 

The bottom line - go see Arrival. It's inventive narrative structure and sharp pangs of emotion have solidified Arrival as one of my favorite movies of the year and one of my favorite Sci-Fi movies ever. And right now, we could all benefit from its message of unity.

P.S. - Don't watch a trailer if you haven't already. This is a great one to go into totally blind.