I love being surprised at the movies, and that’s exactly what Arrival does: it takes the essential premise of every other alien invasion movie and turns it into an adult drama about pain, experience, acceptance, loss and tolerance. You’d not expect this kind of thing to infiltrate the sci-fi genre, in that Arrival is a film which challenges its audience to think, to really give what’s on screen a thorough once-over (twice-over, if need be) as to what’s being said.

It’s a superb piece of work. Truly superb. Best Picture stuff.

Anchored by a deeply committed, earnest performance from Amy Adams (who is always good, like, always), the film has a sense of awe and wonder, and is in as much a more grounded, contemplative and tonally muted take on the same notions explored by Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The key difference being that Spielberg’s first contact was done with music; Arrival’s is rooted in communication, specifically the written variety.

Arrival’s greatest strength lies in its willingness to treat its audience like adults. There’s nothing in the sci-fi playbook that says it must be designed and implemented strictly for the joy of a teenage boy who likes to see shit ‘splode. Arrival’s characters (and narrative) place the central scenario, the challenge, as one which needs to be overcome with practicalities, and book smarts. Those shady government types whose default setting is fear and distrust are the only real villains in this piece; so it is fitting that in this time of Anglo and American socio-political divergence and extremism, that a modern day parable of acceptance, tolerance and overcoming challenges with learned thought could be so powerful and effective.

SPOILER ALERT: (kinda) the film’s central premise, its McGuffin, is the same as its key strength – its non-linear narrative. Once it hits you how director Denis Villeneuve and screenwriter Eric Heisserer weave the idea of not experiencing time in a linear manner both into the narrative, and make it a cornerstone of the narrative itself – it’s quite stunning. The ‘aha moment’ this approach generates gives you hope and faith not only in modern film making, but in humanity in general.

Arrival is the anti-Independence Day. You want every film to be this good.