Arrival

2016 Directed by Denis Villeneuve

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.

Amy Adams Jeremy Renner Forest Whitaker Michael Stuhlbarg Tzi Ma Mark O'Brien Julia Scarlett Dan Abigail Pniowsky Jadyn Malone Carmela Nozza Guizzo Andrew Shaver Shawn Campbell Larry Day Pat Kiely Frank Schorpion Lucas Chartier-Dessert Lucy Van Oldenbarneveld Sonia Vigneault Mark Camacho Sabrina Reeves Russell Yuen Julian Casey Tony Robinow Anana Rydvald Ruth Chiang Sergiy Marchenko Brittany Teo Chistian Jadah Joe Cobden Show All…

Alternative Titles

Contact, Story of Your Life, I Afixi, Ha'mifgash, 어라이벌

drama science fiction mystery

116 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by cathy ★★★★★ 7

memory is a strange thing. for example, i remember amy adams's performance as being one of the best of 2016, but the academy seemed to remember differently
Review by katie ★★★★★ 19

Okay, so now that i've sat down and thought about this, i'm ready to talk.
This movie is 100% a masterpiece. The visuals are perfect, the acting, ESPECIALLY from Amy Adams, is wonderful. The fucking score, Jesus Christ. Everything about this movie is absolutely amazing. The aliens looked terrifying and gorgeous at the same time. I didn't breathe for a good 60 seconds when you first meet them. Still, a movie can fail with an amazing score, breathtaking cinematography, and captivating acting. But it doesn't.
Denis Villeneuve uses the aliens as such a beautiful storytelling device. The way this story is told is heartbreaking and haunting. If you see this movie, you'll know exactly what i'm talking about. It is impossible…
Review by Wood ★★★★★ 25

The ghosts of Stanley Kubrick and Michael Crichton have inhabited Denis Villeneuve's body.
Review by isabel ★★★★★ 2

isn't amy getting tired of carrying the entire film industry on her two perfect shoulders
Review by brat pitt ★★★★ 1

time isn't real ..... language isn't real ..... nothing is real .... EXCEPT FOR A MOTHER'S LOVE
Review by adrianbalboa ★★★★½ 10

a sci-fi film that tricks you into feeling something......quite the serve denis i say bravo
Review by katie ★★★★★ 8

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

SHE FORGOT HOW GOOD IT FELT TO BE HELD BY HIM
Review by Jared ★★★★★ 29

In light of recent events, I'm reminded of Fermi's paradox. A cynical and unsettling notion which suggests the reason we've never been contacted by extraterrestrial intelligent life is that the no civilization has survived long enough to innovate to that level. Or, in simpler terms, that the fundamental nature of intelligent life is to ultimately destroy itself. As tech and sciences progress further and further, what matters is how we allocate that technology; what leaders we elect to control it and how we as a populace influence it's purpose. It all becomes a question of what we as a species value. On one end of the spectrum; there's science, progress and compassion. On the other, there's seems to be paranoia,…
Review by Eli Hayes ★★★★½ 65

more filmmakers should (follow suit and) go full Tarkovsky in wide release form. Villeneuve had already proven himself to be one of the most versatile filmmakers in the medium -- as if we needed any more proof -- and it goes without saying that Bradford Young is a complete colossus with the camera.
why didn't anybody warn me about Max Richter's On the Nature of Daylight bookending the film? I can't even listen to that piece (in absence of a heartbreaking cinematic context) without tearing up; imagine what the introductory and concluding sequences herein did to me.
if you could see beyond the boundaries of your vision and comprehend the entire vastness of your environment -- all that is before you, beside you, behind you -- would you still traverse the same trail, or would you tour time through disparate doors?
Review by lucy ★★★★½ 1

as owen wilson would say: wow
Review by aleph beth null ★½ 92

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

i don’t like being contrarian. i mean, i love championing underappreciated films, but slamming something this immediately beloved feels awful and cynical in a way i never want to be. and i wanted so much to love this. but to me, it feels like this year’s world of tomorrow: a universally-acclaimed 101-level (and at times completely false) treatment of certain scientific ideas in service of a startlingly reactionary message. i really understand your potential objections to this characterisation, because i want to agree with them—which is why i also want to write all this to try to explain myself.
i’ll start with everything i like: i’m a huge fan of basically every scene inside the ship, from the (actually really…
Review by tuur ★★★★★ 5

So perfectly balanced and on point. Calm yet suspenseful, gloomy yet floaty. Deep but not too complicated and heartbreaking yet healing at the same time. Makes me wanna study linguistics and chill with heptapods.
A god damn masterpiece and my non linear ass can’t get enough of it.

Recent reviews

Review by SagePhenomenon ★★★★★

Unexpectedly blown away by this. Cool concepts and great storyline.
Review by lucabc ★★★★★

Qué hermosura, hermano.
Se va a la bosta. Veanlan.
Review by Meghan ★★★★★

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

“Despite knowing the journey... and where it leads... I embrace it... and I welcome every moment of it.”
I often feel like a heavy hearted time traveler. For years I’ve struggled with obsessive compulsive disorder and I’m often either ruminating on a negative event from the past or imagining a painful, anxiety-filled future. My escape is mindfulness - holding someone’s hand, ripping up grass from the earth, stopping and breathing and remembering that I’m alive and my life is bigger than myself and I shouldn’t worry so much. And yet I think and worry nonetheless.
When Louise realizes her grief and loss is yet to come and asks herself if it’s worth it, if the world is pre-determined and there’s…
Review by Lou ★★★★

Rosetta Stoned
Review by Jan ★★★★★

Nach dem letzten Drittel des Films ist mein Kopf offiziell "gefickt".
Review by psotelo96 ★★★★★

Well, Denis Villeneuve did it again. This was such a visually stunning movie and such an intriguing story. All of the fine details in the “flashbacks” were so well thought out once all of the pieces were put together. This movie truly pulled me in and I enjoyed every minute of it.
🦑
Review by Fellas Tomatoes ★★★★½

4.3 Stars
2 Critics
Review by aline ★★★★★

que experiência que é ver esse filme... não importa a quantidade de vezes
Review by Abraham Rivera ★★★★½

I need to see more of Villeneuve's work, I want to be his Bitch, this was amazing, it tends to get a little slow but it always comes back and dickslaps you in the face
Review by Aaron DeLoria ★★★★★

Anyone else go straight tear mode when they hear “On the Nature of Daylight” in the opening sequence? Damn. This movies such an underrated masterpiece and way more people need to see it. It says so much about our culture, our humanity, and our fragility as a nation and as a species. Our inability to handle fear and uncertainty will destroy us one day, mark my words.
Review by conorjordan23 ★★★★★

“We are so bounded by time, by its order. But now I am not so sure I believe in beginnings and endings.”
The only actual issue I have with this movie is with the sound design/mixing. That base is farrrrr too unbalanced.
Other than that: this movie is a real masterpiece. Denis Villeneuve continues to build his library of excellent work, but this is by far my favorite film of his as of yet. It is intelligent, suspenseful, absolutely unique, crafted with such care and beautifully well shot...
Some of my favorite shots are the first look at the Alien craft with the mist coming down from the Montana mountains surrounding as that shot continues until it raps around the…
Review by cdunnigan ★★★★½

I’ve started this movie before but didn’t finish it for some reason. The beginning is unnecessarily sad. Seeing that zoom conference between a ton of countries on the base triggered me. Why is the bird there? This movie is kinda a mind fuck. I don't know if I’ll watch again. Did not expect to cry so much.