‎Arrival (2016) directed by Denis Villeneuve • Reviews, film + cast • Letterboxd

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…

113 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by adrianbalboa ★★★★★ 64

ah, yes. meryl streep's role as "meryl streep in another mediocre dramady" was much more deserving of an oscar nomination than amy "i carried this movie on my own two shoulders" adams. because florence foster jenkins will be remembered for much longer than arrival. at least she got nominated for nocturnal animals OH WAIT
Review by cathy ★★★★★ 2

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 Wood ★★★★★ 21

The ghosts of Stanley Kubrick and Michael Crichton have inhabited Denis Villeneuve's body.
Review by Eli Hayes ★★★★½ 120

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 Jared S. ★★★★★ 27

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 CinemaClown ★★★★½ 8

A deeply meditative, philosophical & introspective sci-fi that's more interested in contemplating the human nature than the fantasy elements of its genre, Arrival is one of the most intelligent sci-fi films released in recent years, and arguably the most thematically dense in ages. Cleverly crafted, firmly grounded & deftly layered with intricate themes, it may give the impression of a sci-fi blockbuster with an alien invasion concept but is actually a far better & much more involving cinema that has a lot to say about our own kind than the aliens present in it.

The story of Arrival follows Louise Banks, an expert linguist whose life changes when twelve extra-terrestrial spacecrafts mysteriously appear across the planet one day, causing widespread panic all over…

Recent reviews

Review by alex ☂ ★★★★★

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

this is a work of art. this movie is so much more than your average sci-fi film. the visual effects made everything seem real, like you were inside with the heptapods. and the music at the end where louise makes all these decisions knowing the outcome. im sorry im terrible at reviews because i can never choose the right words to correctly display how i feel. but its concept, the acting , and the effects will have you completely absorbed in the film.
Review by Jody Duncan ★★★★★

Wow
Review by deadpixies ★★★★★

issa mind fuck
Review by RANKLES ★★★½

- In the first 15 minutes I didn't really think I was going to enjoy this movie but I was dead wrong. This movie is really good,except for the first part of the movie as it was sorta slow and boring. I loved the story and the actors performances. I don't think this is the kind of movie I'll re-watch over and over again, maybe once every other year.

- The CGI suits on team when they went inside the alien ship were so noticeable it made me cringe. Other than that everything else was great.
Review by Max Kuntz ★★½

This movie was not what I was expecting. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Kinda both.

Amy Adams does a great job in the movie as does Forest Whitaker and Jeremy Renner. The score is really good as well. But I have some problems with the story.

I enjoyed the first 2/3 of the movie a lot, but when it got into the last act it lost me. The first two acts of this movie are really solid and really grounded into reality, but when it got into the third act I felt like it took all of its realism and threw it out the window. I was invested into the movie for the first two acts…
Review by akoltuniuk ★★★★★

Brilliant film! Loved the way it was filmed and the way that the story progresses.
Review by dylan ★★★★★

that shit was breathtaking bro
Review by Benjamin Rubenstein ★★★½

Clever new way to tell an alien story, just not as thrilling as I'd hoped.
Review by Elementarii ★★★★★

I'm not crying, you're crying