Arrival

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Arrival

PG-13

2016

1h 56m

Sci-Fi

Mystery & Thriller

Drama

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Popcornmeter

94%

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441 Reviews

83%

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50,000+ Ratings

Linguistics professor Louise Banks leads an elite team of investigators when gigantic spaceships touch down in 12 locations around the world. As nations teeter on the verge of global war, Banks and her crew must race against time to find a way to communicate with the extraterrestrial visitors. Hoping to unravel the mystery, she takes a chance that could threaten her life and quite possibly all mankind.

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Critics Consensus

Arrival delivers a must-see experience for fans of thinking person's sci-fi that anchors its heady themes with genuinely affecting emotion and a terrific performance from Amy Adams.

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Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

The Blue Lenses

08/25/2018

Arrival transcends the limitations that so often govern the less creative examples of the subgenre, instead using it as a loose conceptual foundation upon which to build a theoretically-informed examination of what precisely ... makes us human.

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Kristen Lopez

Culturess

11/20/2017

Arrival couldn't have arrived (pun intended) at a better time.

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K. Austin Collins

The Ringer

08/10/2017

I think of Arrival in terms of color: the milky grays of the clouds rolling over the Montana plain; the bright blue of computer screens bouncing off the gray tents on the makeshift army compound.

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JD Duran

InSession Film

08/08/2024

The film works as a powerful allegory for how we try to decode and interpret the tragedies of our lives.

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Ankit Ojha

Cinema Elite

07/09/2024

4.5/5

Without spoiling too much, let’s just say Villeneuve and Heisserer use the Kuleshov effect to turn the non-linear storytelling of “Arrival” from a gimmick to an indispensable part of the film.

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Anthony McGlynn

Vague Visages

02/06/2024

Arrival is a work that resents the necessity of violence. However, the film ditches some of the meditative qualities of the bleakness-to-idealism dialectic of the album in favor of making a cold hard stand against war and those who clamour for it.

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Jonathan F

02/05/2022

Extremely short-paced, felt like most of the movie was empty without a real driving story. I would have hoped for more action.

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Katie D

03/15/2021

An amazing film! very well-done, thought-provoking, entertaining and unpredictable. my only complaint is about the loud horn blasts that accompany so many science fiction movie scenes - unnecessary, unrealistic and distracting! other than that it was awesome!

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Ryan R

Feb 9

The best. Denis est le meilleur que nous ayons.

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guglielmo d

@guglielmo Feb 1

Good movie! Maybe a sequel or something??

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RichardAB

@PoorDearRichard Jan 30

I love Amy Adams in everything she does — she’s brilliant — and I liked Jeremy Renner, too. I haven’t seen much of him, but this film makes me want to start. I’m clearly on the opposite side of the consensus on this one. It moved along at a snail’s pace, and I actually needed an AI to explain the ending afterward. I just wasn’t expecting the ending. Beautifully acted, but the slow, cerebral approach kept me from fully connecting.

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Tyson D.

@Spudsprout Jan 28

(Overall Rating: 2.83/5) (OK) ----- (Cinematography/Atmosphere: 3/5) I was honestly a little bored with the visuals which could have been the intent? It was hard to stay immersed. --- (Storyline/Plot: 4/5) Thought provoking film, intriguing ideas. This would have been higher if the story would have gone where I wanted it to go but it didn't quiet get there. --- (Acting: 3/5) Amy Adam's was excellent, everyone else was extremely flat. --- (Character Quality: 2.5/5) Very average, the Colonel was extremely foolheaded although probably true to how he would act. The only character that seemed to have any depth was Dr Banks. --- (Entertainment Value: 3/5) There were moments where the film had my full attention, but I feel like the film could have used it's time better. --- (Expectations vs. Reality: 1.5/5) Maybe I'm not getting it, but I was expecting an alien film. With the central plot, there was no true reason for the visitors. The film could have used many other mediums to tell its story. I'm bummed they wasted the aliens.

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Denis Villeneuve

Director

Amy Adams

Louise Banks

Jeremy Renner

Ian Donnelly

Forest Whitaker

Colonel Weber

Michael Stuhlbarg

Agent Halpern

Mark O'Brien

Captain Marks

Arrival: Official Clip - The Nature of a Question

2:08

Arrival: Official Clip - Death Process

2:13

Arrival: Official Clip - You Changed My Mind

2:13

Arrival: Official Clip - Past and Present in the Future

2:06

Arrival: Official Clip - The Heptapods Speak

2:13

Arrival: Official Clip - You Have the Weapon

1:41

Arrival: Official Clip - Sabotaged Diplomacy

2:13

Arrival: Official Clip - The Many Things We Don't Know

2:10

Arrival: Official Clip - First Contact

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Arrival: Official Clip - A Proper Introduction

2:13

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Arrival: 'Global War' Teaser

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Synopsis

Linguistics professor Louise Banks leads an elite team of investigators when gigantic spaceships touch down in 12 locations around the world. As nations teeter on the verge of global war, Banks and her crew must race against time to find a way to communicate with the extraterrestrial visitors. Hoping to unravel the mystery, she takes a chance that could threaten her life and quite possibly all mankind.

Director: Denis Villeneuve
Producer: Shawn Levy, Dan Levine, Aaron Ryder, David Linde
Screenwriter: Eric Heisserer
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Co: 21 Laps Entertainment, Lava Bear Films, FilmNation
Rating: PG-13 (Brief Strong Language)
Genre: Sci-Fi, Mystery & Thriller, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 11, 2016, Wide
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Jan 27, 2017
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 31, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $100.5M
Runtime: 1h 56m
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital

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