Arrival

I’m always relieved when I sit down in a movie theater, the lights go down, and the aliens land. Alien parables always make poignant critiques of the human condition like war-mongering, environmental neglect, man’s inhumanity to man, etc. Arrival is analogous to the Tower of Babel, wherein an alien language is translated by different cultures, and of course, interpreted to reinforce their own fears and prejudices. But there’s one hero translator, Amy Adams, who trusts the E.T.s and listens with optimism and peace in her heart. Can she get entire cultures to listen before it’s too late?

Amy Adams is one of the best in the business. Her emotional journey is the spine of this movie, so it succeeds on an emotional level. There are some sci-fi time-jumps and alien razzle-dazzle that left the ending a little confusing for me. But I recognize: that’s not really the point. It’s about the interpreter being the hero. In the grimy, lie-filled era of Breitbart and Fox news, having a messenger who cares about the real truth can have global repercussions.