Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Not since Andrei Tarkovsky’s “Solaris” have I been as moved by a science fiction film as I was by Denis Villeneuve’s “Arrival.” What both films understand so well is that our urge to communicate with extraterrestrial life is actually about processing the mystery of life and death, loss and love. Amy Adams is haunting as a linguistics professor who decodes the reason aliens have landed on Earth by learning their language, a knowledge that necessitates a shattering decision in her own life. The film builds to a massive emotional payoff we should see coming but don’t. This is a profound meditation on the human need for connection.
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