ARRIVAL

Arrival is the best movie I've seen in a very long time and probably the best one I’ll see for a long time to come.

Like the best science-fiction Arrival asks profound philosophical questions about human nature. That alone would rank it high on my list of the best movies of the year. As would the fact that in Denis Villeneuve it shows a director in full control of his craft.

But Arrival is so much more than a thinking man's sci-fi film. It is foremost a touchingly intimate picture that is as immensely moving as it is visually imposing, thanks in no small part to a towering Amy Adams performance and a stunning thematic resonance seldomly seen in the genre.

Special praise must also go to the picture’s unique screenplay that not only takes huge, bold swings, but actually hits a homerun with every single one of them. This kind of ambition in a big-budget Hollywood film? That’s almost unheard of.

All of the above can only lead to one obvious conclusion. Arrival is a modern masterpiece, the best movie I've seen in a very long time and probably the best one I’ll see for a long time to come.

release: 2016

director: Denis Villeneuve

starring: Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker, Michael Stuhlbarg