Arrival
Why are they here?
A linguist is recruited to decode an alien language and discovers that learning it rewires the way she experiences time itself.
First contact staged as a language problem, and the most quietly devastating twist of the last decade.
- Director
- Denis Villeneuve
- Signature
- Drama · Mind-Bending · Suspense
- Worldwide
- $203M
Who's in it
Cast
The billed ensemble, with character names. Open any performer for their Nutevio filmography.
The Nutevio profile
Movie DNA
How Arrival actually feels to watch, measured on the twelve traits our editors track across every Nutevio title.
Perfect if you enjoyed
Story overview
What It's About
Spoiler-free. Read the analysis below for the full argument.
A linguist is recruited to decode an alien language and discovers that learning it rewires the way she experiences time itself.
Nutevio Editorial Analysis
Why Arrival works
Arrival is a first-contact film in which nothing is fought and everything is read. Villeneuve treats linguistics as suspense: the tension comes from the possibility of a mistranslation with civilisational stakes.
Bradford Young's photography keeps the shell interiors murky and under-lit, which forces the audience to concentrate exactly as Louise does. The heptapod logograms were designed as a functional writing system before they were shot.
The film's structure is its thesis. What looks like flashback is foreknowledge, and the reveal reframes the opening montage as a choice rather than a memory. Amy Adams plays both readings simultaneously on a first viewing.
Jóhann Jóhannsson's score, with Max Richter's 'On the Nature of Daylight' bookending the film, gives grief a shape before the audience knows what is being grieved.
By The Nutevio Editors
Where to watch
Streaming
Availability verified against regional listings.
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Why We Recommend It
Why It's Ranked
Arrival appears in 11 Nutevio collections. Here is the argument behind each placement.
- Hidden Sci-Fi Gems Ranked #1
Ranked #1 because widely praised, still under-watched compared to its blockbuster peers.
First contact as a linguistics problem.
- Movies Like Interstellar Ranked #1
Ranked #1 because closest match for the emotional structure.
The same trick, played quieter.
- Best Denis Villeneuve Movies Ranked #2
Ranked #2 because his warmest film, hidden inside his coldest premise.
First contact as grammar.
- Best Time Travel Movies Ranked #2
Ranked #2 because the most original take on the idea in fifty years.
Not travel — simultaneity.
- Mystery Movies Ranked #2
Ranked #2 because rated 9.1 by the Nutevio editors — one of the strongest mystery titles in the catalogue.
A linguist is recruited to decode an alien language and discovers that learning it rewires the way she experiences time itself.
- Top 100 Mind-Bending Movies Ranked #4
Ranked #4 because the twist isn't a twist — it's a grammar lesson, and it devastates.
Learning an alien language rewires how you experience time.
- Best Philosophical Movies Ranked #4
Ranked #4 because the clearest philosophical thesis on this list.
Determinism, and choosing anyway.
- Movies With Incredible Endings Ranked #5
Ranked #5 because it converts a structural trick into an act of love.
A choice made with full knowledge of the cost.
- Best Movies of the 2010s Ranked #5
Ranked #5 because it aged better than anything else from 2016.
Science fiction as consolation.
- Sci-Fi Movies Ranked #8
Ranked #8 because rated 9.1 by the Nutevio editors — one of the strongest sci-fi titles in the catalogue.
A linguist is recruited to decode an alien language and discovers that learning it rewires the way she experiences time itself.
- Drama Movies Ranked #11
Ranked #11 because rated 9.1 by the Nutevio editors — one of the strongest drama titles in the catalogue.
A linguist is recruited to decode an alien language and discovers that learning it rewires the way she experiences time itself.
The record
Awards
4 wins · 9 nominations
Eight Academy Award nominations, winning for its extraordinary sound editing.
Academy Awards
1 win · 8 nominations
- WinnerAcademy Award for Best Cinematography
Critics' Choice Awards
1 win
- WinnerCritics' Choice Movie Award for Best Sci-Fi/Horror Movie
Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
1 win
- WinnerHugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
National Board of Review: Top Ten Films
1 win
- WinnerNational Board of Review: Top Ten Films
AACTA International Award for Best Film
No wins yet · 1 nomination
- WinnerAACTA International Award for Best Film
The numbers
Box Office & Release
Arrival returned 4.3× its budget worldwide.
- Budget
- $47M
- Opening weekend
- —
- Domestic gross
- —
- International gross
- —
- Worldwide gross
- $203M
- Release date
- Nov 11, 2016
- Runtime
- 1h 56m
- MPAA rating
- PG-13
- Language
- Mandarin, English
- Country
- United States of America
Figures from the verified production record. Fields we cannot source are left blank rather than estimated.
Watch
Official Trailer
How it was made
Behind The Scenes
Production facts, technique and the decisions that shaped what ended up on screen.
A working language
Artist Martine Bertrand and a team of linguists designed roughly a hundred logograms with consistent internal grammar.
Gravity flipped practically
The shell interior was built as a rotatable set so the crew could walk up its wall.
In their words
Iconic Quotes
“If you could see your whole life from start to finish, would you change things?”
“Language is the foundation of civilization. It is the glue that holds a people together.”
