100 Movies Every Catholic Should See #40: Arrival (2016)

Directed by Denis Villeneuve. Written by Eric Heisserer. Starring Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, and Forest Whitaker.

Arrival is the Roth IRA of movies, the more you invest into the experience, the more you get out of it. It is a film that is carefully constructed towards a targeted realization that will leave a lasting impression.  Especially for catholic viewers and film enthusiasts, this masterpiece by Denis Villeneuve easily deserves a spot in the top 100 movies of all time. 

Due to the nature of the plot, Arrival is not a straightforward film to review.  While the title is explicitly referencing the arrival of alien life onto our blue green planet, it also is a mission statement for the story.  You are meant to arrive at the same conclusion as the protagonist in tandem with the movement of the plot and its building revelations.  

Arrival is as perfect an entry point for practicing the appreciation of film as anyone can ask for.  Due to recent filmmaking trends, the audience is no longer trusted with concepts from the big studios.  And to a certain degree, the studios are correct.  The average American moviegoer is more concerned with pattern recognition than introspection.  The average film enthusiast is no better, as it is a field monopolized by postmodern deconstructionism.  As in the moral life, the Catholic moviegoer has to tread the line between scrupulosity and over indulgence with their entertainment.  Our duty is to work and virtue to overcome vice.  Entertainment is the litmus test of the moral compass of a culture, and the current entertainment landscape should be insulting to a discerning mind. 

Thankfully, there are exceptions to this sleeping condemnation, which opens the big question; how does a catholic moviegoer sift through the multitude of drivel and find the True, the Good and the Beautiful?  A good start would be watching Arrival.  

Good pieces of art draw us out of ourselves and offer fresh ideas and insight into the fallen world we live in.  They should offer a piece of the puzzle of life and convince the viewer that it belongs in the bigger picture.  A good story should not take sides in a battle of perspectives save through an honest portrayal of the good and the bad that always accompanies subjectivity. 

Arrival is a project that fulfills all of these requirements.  The ‘plot twist’ is not something that the entertainment or edification value hinges on as a crutch.   The idea explored in the film is one that holds up after multiple viewings, almost getting more profound the more you immerse yourself.  Even the perspectives used take on new meanings as you ponder the whole piece together and in its individual parts.  

The concept of the movie is rather straightforward.  The main character, Louise Banks (played by Amy Adams) is a linguist professor at a university and is whisked away by the government for the purposes of figuring out what these beings are, how to communicate with them, and ultimately, what they want.  The film's plot then goes through the process Louise takes in order to learn to communicate with these creatures. This exploration of language alone could be dissected for days and still not exhaust the concept being presented.  

As far as presentation goes, there are few films as beautiful to look at.  The cinematography is as sweeping and grand as the concept, without sacrificing the details that make a second watch so rewarding.  The concept and the visuals are tied together in a labyrinth that fascinates you at every turn. So many films recently confuse magnificence with quantity or size. Marvel movies are set across space, time and even dimensions and yet look bland and repetitive.  There is no goal beyond making a bigger set piece than the movie before and as a result, these projects barely hold up to a first screening. Every element of Arrival is tailored towards exploring its concept and its many patterns work perfectly in a layered work of art that can be admired from every angle.  

Continuing with the labyrinth motif, Arrival is a movie that increases its appeal the more you watch it as details in acting, set design, audio design and editing almost completely change the viewer's experience.  A second viewing is drastically different from the first, as the viewer is allowed to see the conclusion coming.  A concrete example of this, without getting into specifics, is that the film is in dialogue with itself and its own ending.  This dialogue is exactly what makes Arrival such a seamless introduction into film dissection as a habit.  The film, by its structure, is challenging itself and its own idea, building to a conclusion that hits you with an irrefutable truth.  

The film uses neat editing tricks to seamlessly slip between past and present to build a slow revelation on first viewing, and a beautifully detailed whole painting on a second.  If a viewer were to keep rewatching Arrival, the intricacy and focus of the narrative and construction would continue to yield careful details.  This fundamental decision in the construction of the film is aided, and aids itself in turn, the major plot point of the film. Namely, that other forms of life exist and these “others” live and especially think fundamentally different from human consciousness.  The brilliance of this film lies in how each meticulously laid brick builds to the viewer not only comprehending that these aliens think differently, but also arrive at the implications of that different structure of intelligence. 

Great art should not only justify its own existence, it should also call the viewer to justify theirs.  Art in general, and most particularly stories, should give the audience something beyond them to ponder and learn from.  Story is how God revealed Himself to us and as such, there is an almost sacramental quality to great stories.  Just like the sacraments, to an obvious lesser degree, story demands participation.  It is not enough to have big ideas in a story, the film or book itself should be in constant dialogue with itself and the viewer or reader. Only by participation can we engage in a fictional world well enough for the events contained therein to convince us to change.  

Arrival’s simple, yet deep story is a wonderful mean between the often overly pretentious or vague art house film scene and the bread and circuses of superhero and action fare.  It has an engaging concept that is clearly conveyed which can be enjoyed by anyone, but also encourages as part of its story, total engagement in the experience. It is incredibly difficult to praise this film without straying into spoiler territory, and while knowing the twist does not ruin the picture by any stretch of the imagination, there is a fullness to experiencing it unbiased.  

In a landscape so saturated with movies that barely scratch the surface of the creative potential held in filmmaking, Arrival makes the most out of the technology and talent at its disposal.  The main theme of the piece is tremendously ontological and has numerous allegories to the struggle of faith, prayer and theodicy.  Any secular film enjoyer will find much to appreciate in the artistry and many Catholic viewers, especially those with families, are likely to be brought to tears.  The emotional impact of this movie when fully experienced without distraction is hard to describe. It does not beg for your investment with cheap tricks or hack writing or vibrant visuals, it does not tell you want to think or hold your hand through its plot.  Arrival trusts the viewer with its ideas and manages to describe things that should be outside the human imagination.  Art is almost ubiquitously a criticism of fallen man, and Arrival proves that the greatest works of art point to hope beyond our making that will draw us out of whatever misery life has in store.