Arrival
Overview
Arrival is a 2016 science fiction drama film directed by Denis Villeneuve, based on the 1998 short story "Story of Your Life" by Ted Chiang. The film stars Amy Adams as Dr. Louise Banks, a linguistics professor who is recruited by the US military to communicate with aliens who have landed on Earth. Twelve alien spacecraft appear at random locations around the world, hovering silently. The military does not know why they are here, and they cannot communicate with them. Louise and a physicist, Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner), are brought to the Montana site to try to establish contact. The aliens are called "heptapods" because they have seven limbs. They communicate in a circular, calligraphic language, where a single symbol can convey an entire sentence. Louise learns that the heptapods do not experience time linearly, as humans do. For them, past, present, and future all exist simultaneously. As Louise learns their language, she begins to experience time non-linearly as well. She has flashes of the future: she sees herself with a daughter, Hannah, who grows up and then dies of an incurable disease. She sees her husband, Ian, leaving her. The film's twist is that the flashes are not memories; they are premonitions. Louise knows that if she helps the heptapods, she will marry Ian, have a daughter, and watch her die. She chooses to do it anyway. The heptapods reveal that they have come to Earth to give humanity their language, which is also their weapon. By learning the language, humans will be able to experience time non-linearly, and will be able to help the heptapods in 3,000 years. The film ends with Louise embracing her future, choosing love even though she knows it will lead to pain. Arrival was a critical and commercial success, earning over $203 million worldwide. It was nominated for eight Academy Awards, winning one for Best Sound Editing. The film is a masterpiece of science fiction, a profound and emotional exploration of language, time, and the nature of choice.
