93% on Rotten Tomatoes
Chloe's thoughts: A must-see; Watch it in cinemas; I'm buying the DVD
Watch it if you: Are a sci-fi fan; Are a fan of Amy Adams; Are a fan of Denis Villeneuve's other works; Aren't expecting an action-packed alien invasion, but a more serious drama
Aliens have arrived on the planet, with spaceships hovering above 12 different locations across the globe. As people the world over anticipate the worst, world leaders try to figure out what these aliens want, why they are here, and whether they are friendly or hostile. But to do this, they need to understand how to communicate with the aliens, and so they hire a linguistics professor to decipher what they are saying.
It's really hard for me to review this film because I don't really want to talk too much about it, and besides I'm also still in the middle of processing it all.
What I can say about this film, though, is that it is a fantastic sci-fi drama. It has emotion, heart, politics, and a very intriguing and unique plot (based on the short story Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang).
Without giving away too much, I thought the most interesting thing was that while this film has global stakes, with talks of extraterrestrial beings threatening global existence, its main focus is on humanity, and more specifically, individuals. And I think that was so interesting, because I really was not expecting it to focus so much on the human condition.
Most of this can be credited to Amy Adams' amazing performance; she is absolutely breathtakingly and viscerally real in this film, it is so easy to forget that this is Amy Adams. You believe everything she says and does, and she completely transforms and gets lost in her character.
The same cannot be said for Jeremy Renner though. I was a bit disappointed with his characterisation. It's not like he was a bad actor, it's just that he didn't have much to do here. I feel like he could have been replaced by an unknown actor and it wouldn't have made that much of a difference.
However, this film is definitely not what I was expecting, and I loved it.
The cinematography was great; every scene looked beautiful.
The script and the writing were fantastic; apparently the film did a really good job at adapting the story it was based on.
The score was pretty intense. In some moments I felt like it did not fit the scene, but for the most part it really made you feel as if you were living the experience of these characters.
The directing was great too. I loved Prisoners (2013) and Sicario (2015), so I was really excited to see another film by Denis Villeneuve, and he did not disappoint. Some may say it was a bit slow-paced, but I didn't realise that until after the film when I was thinking about it, since it adds to the suspense and intensity of the film, and makes it feel like the events are playing out quite realistically and naturally.
So all in all, this is a great film that I would definitely recommend people to watch. It's not a crazy Independence Day type of alien invasion film; it's more of a drama, and it works very well. It's also a fantastic piece of sci-fi, and while it may be confusing, it opens up a lot of discussion on humanity.
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