Arrival

As I sat down to watch Arrival for a second time, I couldn’t help but be excited.

After initially seeing it in theaters last November, the film quickly became a favorite of mine. Thought-provoking, exciting, and heartfelt, Arrival posses all the best qualities a movie should.

Adapted from Stories of Your Life and Others, a collection of short stories by Ted Chiang, the film follows Dr. Louise Banks (Amy Adams). Banks is recruited to join an elite team of investigators when 12 alien spacecrafts touch down throughout the world. As a linguistics professor, she is tasked with deciphering how the aliens communicate, primarily through strange sounds and complex ink circles.

Upon release, Arrival quickly joined the ranks of great space/alien movies made in the past few years, including Gravity, Interstellar, and The Martian. I would argue that it even surpasses the bunch in regards to plot, with a twist at the end that’ll make any viewer leave the theater in wonder.

And critics agree. The film is headed to the Oscars this weekend, nominated for eight awards including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Cinematography.

While it’s unlikely Arrival will win Best Picture with tough competition like La La Land and Manchester by the Sea, the film is expected to do well.

Notably, its cinematographer, Bradford Young, is a favorite to win Best Cinematography. Young is the first African-American man nominated for the award in the Oscars’ history, as the Academy makes strides to becomes more diverse.

Arrival pushes barriers in other respects as well. It portrays Adams’ character as a powerful female with immense influence in the male dominated military base she is stationed at. Arrival is as much a story about aliens as it is about a woman’s intelligence and capability in her field.

If you get the opportunity to see Arrival anytime soon, jump at it; you will not be disappointed.