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21 Laps Entertainment
FilmNation Entertainment
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Why are they here?
Taking place after alien crafts land around the world, an expert linguist is recruited by the military to determine whether they come in peace or are a threat.
CinemaSerf
Jun 20, 2024 · via TMDB
Accomplished linguist "Louise" (Amy Adams) is drafted in by the US military to join an international team of scientists charged with trying to communicate with twelve spacecraft that have landed across the globe. Upon her arrival she encounters "Donnelly" (Jeremy Renner) and the pair work on finding a way to talk with "Abbott" and "Costello". These latter two are aliens who seem just as keen to chat back, but finding common terms of reference is nigh on impossible. As they find innovative ways to make progress, we discover a little of her traumatic past and it seems her association with the visitors is heightening her senses and inspiring her imagination. With the global alliance straining and the domestic military champing at the bit, it falls to the couple to avert disaster. It has something of the original "Day the Earth Stood Still" (1951) about it, this - as it looks more intelligently at the whole subject of extra-terrestrial life without just focusing on expensive visual effects. Indeed, the artistic design of these effects is really quite effective at illustrating just how blank canvas connections require inspiration and patience - and there are clues for us to spot, too. Adams is at the top of her game here, and with Renner delivering well as a foil and Forest Whitaker taking on the role as the less gung-ho military man ("Col. Weber), this is more a thinking persons sci-fi thriller that keeps us guessing as to the motives of just about all until the denouement. It's a little slow off the mark, but does make you hope that if ET does ever arrive, it is more this kind of welcome it may receive rather than tanks, missiles and ye-ha!
sirdorius
Nov 5, 2023 · via TMDB
I loved the visuals in this, and Amy does a great job of carrying the cast. I am able to suspend my disbelief for 120 minutes when watching sci fi, so I will avoid the useless "but that's not what the military would do" comments. The movie has a great setup talking about language, culture, our perception of the world and how truly -alien- an alien life form would feel to us. Unfortunately, it uses that setup to deliver a platitude older than written language and then just throws away any conclusion to its sci fi story that we though was the main focus up until that point. Yes, I know cancer is sad and all that from real life, now can we please know what happened to the aliens?? Did they get bored and leave when they saw the ending?
Andre Gonzales
Jun 2, 2023 · via TMDB
ok movie really boring at times. it was only interesting to the space craft and the aliens. other then that it was pretty dumb. working together and love is something the planet will never understand. well at least our leaders wont any way.
Filipe Manuel Neto
Oct 25, 2022 · via TMDB
**An excellent film, where the main theme is not what it seems.** In general, I'm not a big fan of movies involving aliens... in part because they seem extremely unlikely to me (I don't really believe there is another planet with intelligent and skilled living beings like humans, or at least not developed enough to see us visit). However, I really enjoyed this film, which takes advantage of the visit of twelve spaceships from other worlds to make us question the way we view the passage of time and its linear nature. Critically acclaimed, the film received mixed reviews from audiences, with a number of detractors and admirers alike. I personally think the film is good enough to deserve our attention and respect. To understand the script, it is necessary to bear in mind that the main theme of the film is not the spaceships and the alien visit, but Time, the passage of time and the way we look at it. As such, the film uses a non-linear narrative that can sometimes be difficult for viewers to understand: through dreams, the protagonist sees her young daughter, and we are led to think that she dreams of things from the past, and that she is now divorced, and her daughter has died of illness (I think it must have been leukemia). It is only later on that we realize that this is not quite the case… I don't want to reveal much more, but to understand the film, it is necessary to consider these points well. The extraterrestrial visit thus becomes an authentic sub-plot from a certain point onwards, and the real motivation of the visit is closely linked to its language and circular writing. I think I've given enough clues. The advantages of this film being as it is are linked to the reflective and meditative form it takes, which can exasperate those who wanted more action or drama. I can understand that these audiences felt defrauded in their expectations. The slow narrative can sometimes drag on too much, and the film's extremely scientific nature can also make it a little difficult to understand. In the end, the quality of the plot goes downhill, things become something more cliché and predictable, but I saw that as less of a problem. I liked the work of Amy Addams, I think that the actress was relatively ignored by the judges of the Oscars that year, and it would have been fair, at the very least, to be nominated for Best Actress. She did work with soul, heart and commitment. Jeremy Renner also gave us an excellent performance, perhaps one of the best of his career so far, along with “Hurt Locker”. Unfortunately, the good performances end here: there are other excellent actors, but they didn't receive good material. The most obvious case is that of Forest Whittaker, who shone in “The Last King of Scotland”, and had a flat character here, without any development. Even so, he managed to do a lot with the little he was given. Despite only securing one Oscar for Sound Editing, the film was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Sound Mixing and Best Production Design. I don't know Dennis Villeneuve's work very well, I even have the impression that this was the first film of his that I've seen. So I'm not the best person to rate it. What I can say is that I liked the director's work here: he managed to give feeling and depth to a film that, on the other hand, could have been just an excuse for a lot of visual effects and CGI. The effects are there, the CGI is good, and it works really well, but the movie is more than that! The cinematography is also good, with many blurry scenes that are fundamental to the work of creating and manipulating the environment, with the film becoming increasingly tense and mysterious. The editing was also very well executed, although there were some pacing issues. Finally, a word of praise for Johann Johannsson's soundtrack, and in particular for the choice of the melody “On the Nature of Daylight”, by Max Richter.
Penguinatic
Aug 12, 2021 · via TMDB
This may be my new favourite film. I was so emotionally involved in this film, and I'd be lying if I didn't admit a few tears were shed towards the end.
20thCentury
Jul 14, 2020 · via TMDB
Arrival has created the most profound and seamless symbolism, notably through cinematography/imagery, that may have ever been achieved to date in film. On the surface, this appears to be a story about humans making contact with an alien species. For those with keen critical thinking skills, the seemingly foreign creatures at the beginning are not who we initially believed them to be by the end. This film amazingly weaves an abundance of profound images/clues in plain sight. Just like one of those optical illusions, which can at first appear a random assortment of dots. Yet, once your focus kicks in and you seize upon a detailed shape, you suddenly see an enormously complex picture that has been there the whole time, seemingly invisible just prior. As I watched this film, I was curious about the shape of the aliens. They do not really conform to the aesthetic of an advanced species. While I internally wrestled with the purpose of this particular shape... it finally made sense. Boom!! Mind Blown!!!! I've heard people try to reconcile the linear/non-linear information as it unfolds in real time. This is certainly rich for grasping a fuller meaning and added depth. However, imho, the epicenter of meaning in this visual masterpiece begins with the shape of the aliens. If you can unwrap that, you'll become like heroic linguist Elizabeth Banks, and decipher the deeper meaning behind this profound story.
User reviews courtesy of TMDB.
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Leslie Baker
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Nicolas Lepage
Art Direction
Patrice Vermette
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Pierre Gill
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Bradford Young
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Yves Bélanger
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Salomé Villeneuve
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Fríða Aradóttir
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Morag Ross
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Michael Jackman
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Ilyaa Ghafouri
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Broderick Johnson
Thanks
Denis Villeneuve
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Marie-Julie Dallaire
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Joe Walker
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Bruce Winant
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Dann Fink
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Michael Jackman
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Dan Cohen
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Simon Beaupré
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Heston L'Abbé
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Arnaud Brisebois
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Marie-Claude Lafontaine
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Josiane Fradette
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Jean-François Ferland
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Eric Heisserer
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Jessica Coon
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Ted Chiang
Short Story
Sep 2, 2016
Telluride Film Festival
Sep 22, 2016
Fantastic Fest
Oct 27, 2016
Chicago International Film Festival
Oct 28, 2016
Philadelphia International Film Festival
Nov 11, 2016
Feb 14, 2017
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Dastoor
1991
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2019
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Battle your watched movies head-to-head
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Evil Dead II
1987 · 14 wins
The Dark Knight
2008 · 14 wins
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1978 · 13 wins
Final Destination
2000 · 12 wins
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1981 · 11 wins
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