The Brilliance of *ARRIVAL*

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Original Movie: Arrival

[courtneylovett]

What's even more heartbreaking about Abbott's death is because they have nonlinear foresight, he knew he was going to die and yet fulfilled his mission :( respect to the realest heptapod

[sirgnome]

"I forgot how good it felt to be held by you" is a line that fucks me up every time I think about it. I love this movie so much.

[GarrettHarlen]

His wife’s dying words: “In war, there are no winners, only widows.”

[dihboas]

The first time I saw this movie that line “who is this child?” sent a shiver down my spine

[Tokitato]

This movie was so good, I remember a comment that stuck with me from another post that just hit so good was, "She let her daughter be born because her Arrival was more important than her departure."

[DragoonxVII]

One of the few films that gave me full body shivers when they revealed the twist. I'll never forget the feeling. One of my favorite films of all-time--the writing, directing, and acting are as good as it gets but with the added fun of cool sci-fi concepts to blow your brain every time.

[jaryse]

The fact that Amy Adams has been nominated for 6 Oscars and wasn't even NOMINATED for this is absolutely
insane!!!

[rhonafenwick]

Ian's line "Screw it - everybody dies, right?" is so heartbreaking once you know the twist.

[Etticos.]

This is such a banger.

Back in the day, miner’s would bring a bird into the mines with them. If a scentless lethal gas started leaking out from the mine, the bird would die first and act as a warning to the miners. A “canary in a coal mine”.

The sankrit meaning debate shows that she is far more knowledgeable to the nuance of language, which in this situation could have a large impact. Take the word “awful” for example. To most it simply means “really bad”. But if you analyze the components of the word it means “to inspire awe”. “Awe” itself is a neutral word so at some point awful meant something like “to fill someone with a feeling of being amazed and overwhelmed and stunned by something” which evolved to “being overwhelmed and stunned by something terrible” which evolved to “very bad”.

[ChrisB-yvsj]

The first time I saw this movie, it haunted me for at least a week. There are a million ways this project could have failed, so full credit to Denis Villeneuve for translating a difficult story to the screen so elegantly.

[enzoriasn]

My interpretation of Ians wrath about Louise telling him is that he is not mad that she knew and didn't tell him before they got Hannah, but that she told him and he would have preferred not to know, since he could not bear the thought of the daughters inevitable death. So my interpretation of "you chose wrong" was not the choice to have Hannah, but that she told him that she was going to die, so he could not enjoy the time with her alive

[psypsy]

As an English major and former aspiring linguist, I adore this movie. The script reveals itself on a second viewing, because at first you watch it and, without knowing, it looks like a space horror wherein some lovecraftian monsters come in and give humanity weapons to fight each other, but on a second viewing, you have the information of what's going to happen (just like the main character) and you realize the humans' fear of *other* is what drives the conflict, and the aliens, are, in fact just looking for cooperation. That basically changes the genre of the movie between viewings too. Also, the fact that the character who studies Languages is the one with the tools to overcome the conflict really hits for me, the fact that she makes what seems to be predetermined choices is also brilliant because it subverts the free-will/predestination dichotomy, because it's all about the journey anyway. One of the few perfect movies.

[dylankerr]

Hilarious that you seem to be experiencing this movie non-linearly. You watched it years ago but are only now discovering it, and then in three days time you figure out the canary in the coal mine! Fascinating!

[fajenthygia]

My favorite theory with this movie: There's only one ship, that just happens to be in 12 different places at once. 12 locations * 90 minutes = 18 hours, which is the interval.

[lizryan]

The first time I watched Arrival, I went into it knowing basically nothing about it, and was absolutely floored by how incredible the writing was! About as close as you could get to a perfect movie in my book. I love Amy Adams' performance and her chemistry with Jeremy Renner. I love the way the movie makes you think in the end about what you would do if you could see the way your life was going to play out, and all the joy and pain that would entail.

[reelstellar]

This movie isn’t talked about enough. I think the more I watch it the more incredible it gets. This script is phenomenal and then it’s paired with great acting, visuals, and direction and it makes for a wonderful movie. It’s a slow movie but I’m so invested through the whole thing

[LiamLivesOn]

Arrival personally is my favourite film of the entire decade and essentially a perfect movie.

[joshuaoehler]

This might be my favorite movie of all time, certainly in the top 5. To me, the acting in this movie (particularly by Amy Adams) is phenomenal. Are there bravura moments of histrionics and passion, the sorts of scenes we see in Oscar nomination clips? No. But, to me, that's why it's so good. The subtlety and nuance that Amy Adams brings into every scene, in the way she spoke and moved, every micro-expression that flitted across her face, made Louise Banks feel absolutely like a real, fully-realized person, not just a character with lines and moments. I have not lived the kind of life that Louise did, but I felt every feeling she had, straight to my core. 10/10.

[cloudstone]

I went digging for what she said to the general and it was really good. 'General, I'm at the American Base. Your wife came to me in a dream. She said you should rely on aspiration and inspiration, Depend on courage and help save the world. War does not make heroes. Only leaves behind orphans and widows.'

[rapaz]

Louise Banks quickly became one of my favorite characters in all media. She willingly embraces all the good and bad of life knowing how it ends…