Over the weekend, I had the privilege of seeing what – in my eyes – is possibly one of the greatest films ever. This movie is honestly a masterpiece and portrays everything a good thriller film should. It stays in line with other Sci-fi films, but does not display the same properties as a majority of Sci-fi films. The Sci-fi genre is already swamped with some classics: Alien, Star Wars, Star Trek, Independence Day. But, this is the first Sci-fi, thriller, romance film that also has some mystery.

This film begins with Louise Banks (Amy Adams), a linguistics professor who, after a tear-jerking chain of events, goes into work the next morning and doesn’t bat an eye as she sees numerous students and colleagues surrounding TVs. She enters her classroom and begins to teach the class. Suddenly, the students’ phones begin to ring and vibrate.

Ultimately, a student convinces her to turn on the TV in her room. She does so and the screen depicts a giant pod-like shape over Russia and China with more of it appearing over other parts of the globe. Soon, the college empties as emergency precautions are enacted. Later that day, she is approached by Colonel GT Weber (Forest Whitaker) who asks her to come with him to Montana where one of the pods has appeared above a plain. He asks for her help because she has previously translated messages from foreign enemies. She disagrees, but then decides to do it as she wishes to understand these creatures.

As the story continues, Weber and Banks arrive at a military outpost near one of the pods in Montana. As they are on the flight, Banks meets Dr. Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner). From there, the characters get into disagreements regarding the pods but are then directed to immediately start fixing this problem because they have such little time to understand something that could take years.

Banks and the other scientists put their own lives at risk in order to decipher encoded messages from the creatures – which they nicknamed Abbott and Costello – in order to save the day.

This movie has so many twists and is incredibly thought provoking. While it starts off visually slow, the dialogue makes this movie feel fast paced. The conversations between Weber and Banks gives minimal, yet effective, detail into their shared past. It also hints at the flaws and advantages of their relationship, like how passive-aggressive they are towards each other. While she reluctantly joins his team to discover the secrets of the pods, it is inferred that she is either fearful of working with Weber once again or she fears the danger of what the mysterious pods might contain.

This movie covers so many separate theories and misconceptions regarding the possibility of extraterrestrial life. It is truly a remarkable film and does an excellent job of combining several film genres into a visual and brain twisting masterpiece. But, despite all this praise, it has minor flaws.

Arrival does have one flaw that is somewhat noticeable: the layout. The story itself is very good, but it’s just the course of action that the studio took to arrange it. A key part of the film is that Banks has visions and flashbacks.

Throughout the film, her visions and/or past memories aid the team in solving certain words or puzzles. However, the way the visions and memories are shown can come off as strange, for some of the visions may not match up with the current situation in the film. In some instances, the compilations of flashbacks and real life felt like a mess. It was confusing and just felt like it was put into the movie in a hurry.

All in all, this movie is still a masterpiece. Yes, the strange editing can cause confusion, but it really doesn’t affect the film in any way. I personally would give this film 4.8 out of 5. The acting is perfect, the story is brilliant, and the concept is so simplistic while still feeling like a roller coaster of emotions.

This movie represents what other films should strive to be: different. Arrival is an excellent movie and I would highly recommend seeing it.