Arrival

Last night I went to see the new sci-fi thriller Arrival and, upon reflection, I think it is absolutely brilliant.  The movie begins with flashbacks to a woman and the birth, life, and early death of her daughter.  We learn that this woman is Louise Banks (Amy Adams), an eminent professor of linguistics, and we learn that twelve unidentified flying objects have landed in various parts of the world (the depiction of the world's response to the alien invasion seemed more realistic to me than any other alien movie I've seen).  Banks is eventually recruited, along with a theoretical physicist (Jeremy Renner), by a military officer (Forest Whittaker, using a bizarre accent) to find a way to communicate with the beings inside the pod that landed in Montana.  The scenes in which they make first contact are incredibly intense, with just a hint of menace, and the unsettling atmospheric musical cues had me on the edge of my seat.  As Banks begins the slow process of learning the language of the Heptapods, as the aliens are known, she continues to have perplexing flashbacks to scenes with her daughter.  When the governments of China and Russia deem the aliens to be hostile, Banks learns why the aliens have come, what they want from Earth, and why.  It is an interesting premise but it involves a huge plot twist which still has me shaking my head.  I really enjoyed Adams' performance and the scenes where she interacts with the Heptapods are actually quite magical.  I also found the philosophical exploration of the complexities of language to be fascinating.  However, I am still trying to wrap my brain around the ending.  I am sure that I will be thinking about it and questions of time, predestination, language, and global cooperation for quite a while.  You should definitely go see Arrival because movies that make you think are always the best kind.