Arrival

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Denis Villeneuve directs. Bradford Young behind the camera. Jóhann Jóhannsson scores. Joe Walker cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in Mandarin, English, Russian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Made its money back 4.3× over at the box office.
• 2Released 10 years ago.
• 3Dialogue crosses 3 languages: Mandarin, English, Russian.
• 4559+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
• 5Directed by Denis Villeneuve, shot by Bradford Young. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 6Original score by Jóhann Jóhannsson. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 7Editor Joe Walker shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 8Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner and Forest Whitaker carry the top of the cast.
• 9Marketing tagline: "Why are they here?".
• 10IMDB entry: tt2543164 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 1119,991 TMDB user ratings logged — serious cultural footprint.
• 12Classified under 24 themes, including "spacecraft", "extraterrestrial technology", "loss", "time".
• 13Released under 15 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography

Bradford Young

Original score

Jóhann Jóhannsson

Editing

Joe Walker

Production design

Patrice Vermette

Costume design

Renée April

Makeup / hair

Marie-Christine Dormier

VFX supervisor

Ivan Moran

Sound

Bernard Gariépy Strobl

Stunt coordinator

Marc Désourdy

Runtime

116 min · 1h 56m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$47,000,000

Box office

$203,388,186

Return

433% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

PG-13

IMDB

Arrival (2016) ↗

Also by

Denis Villeneuve

• 
  Prisoners

  2013 · ★ 8.1
• 
  Incendies

  2010 · ★ 8.1
• 
  Dune: Part Two

  2024 · ★ 8.1
• 
  Dune

  2021 · ★ 7.8
• 
  Blade Runner 2049

  2017 · ★ 7.6
• 
  Sicario

  2015 · ★ 7.4

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

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Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  The First Five Minutes

  Clip · Official
• 

  ▶
  Dr. Banks Decodes Heptapod Language - Full Scene

  Clip · Official
• 

  ▶
  First Contact with Aliens - Full Scene

  Clip · Official
• 

  ▶
  Denis Villeneuve on ARRIVAL | TIFF 2021

  Featurette
• 

  ▶
  Denis Villeneuve on the sets for his film ARRIVAL

  Featurette · Official
• 

  ▶
  Emma Roberts announces ARRIVAL for AFI Movie Club

  Featurette · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Smashing UK Productions2016-12-03

  Prior to approaching this film, a word of warning that it is what many like to call a "thinking person's sci-fi". If you're going to watch this, I beg that you dedicate your utmost attention to it, as it is truly one rewarding experiences, one of the smartest, most well-constructed science fiction marvels of recent years. 'Arrival' is Villeneuve's magnum opus. Firstly, to put your mind at ease, I won't be analysing the plot, thus avoiding the use of spoilers. This decade, Villeneuve has crafted some fantastic works of art in the form of 'Prisoners', 'Sicario' and now this science fiction gem, and here's hoping his career further develops with more movie masterpieces coming our way. In a world where mysteries remain and the possibility of extraterrestrial life still stands unanswered, 'Arrival' approaches this with it's cliche-free take on the genre. The relatively unknown Bradford Young provides the film with some of the most stunning cinematography ever conceived, taking advantage of the twilight hour to give the film its somewhat unique look, supported magnificently by Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson whose score is both haunting and beautiful. If you're someone looking for a science-fiction tale that keeps you guessing and thinking throughout, with fantastic performances, cinematography, music and near-flawless direction, then 'Arrival' is the film for you. The masterpiece of 2016!

  Read full review ↓
• Gimly2016-12-05
  ★ 7/10

  Denis Villenueve offers a great film, but one that is exactly what the trailer put forth, this is not a Sci-Fi War film waiting to happen, or a modern-day horror. It's a character-driven piece about politics, life, humanity and communication. Final rating:★★★½ - I strongly recommend you make the time.

  Read full review ↓
• Reno2017-02-26
  ★ 7/10

  It was a perfect contact, but troubled at the communication. The film was decent. Nowadays there are lots of altered versions coming that you won't easily say those are the remakes or reboots or spin- offs or whatever they call them in these days. Like 'Premotheus' to 'Alien', this film can remind you a few titles from the past, but 'Contact' is what the majority of us believes it got inspired. The eight Oscars nominees for the film is insane. I know some people liked it, and the film was good, that does not mean it is an Oscar product. I'm okay with the technical side recognition as it deserved that. So visually it was very good, but not a special effects extravaganza. Just a simple sci-fi drama, with a few thrills, particularly towards the end. When the unexpected visitors from the outer-space land their ships in the twelve different locations on the earth, the humans patiently try to communicate with them to learn their intentions. This story focused on the American soil, where experts are brought in to decode the alien language. How the rest of tale develops was told in the remaining parts. To me it smells like a trilogy. If not, it should be. I enjoyed it, mainly because of being a drama. Sci-fi is always associated with action, adventure and thriller, but this drama was something fresh as per todays computer graphics dominated cinema world. This is particularly for the family and older people like the grownups. Like I said the youngsters love action and violence. So it is a one time viewable film and you will get everything in that attempt itself. 7/10

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  FilmNation Entertainment

  US

• LA

  Lava Bear Films

  US

• 

  21 Laps Entertainment

  US

Key crew

• Art DirectionNicolas Lepage
• Executive ProducerGlen Basner
• Executive ProducerEric Heisserer
• ProducerShawn Levy
• ProducerKaren Lunder
• Digital CompositorsMichael Beaulac
• Digital CompositorsOlivier Beaulieu
• AnimationJean-Francois Gallant
• AnimationEmmanuel Gatera
• Co-ProducerMichael Jackman
• Set DecorationPaul Hotte
• Boom OperatorFrancis Péloquin
• Supervising Art DirectorIsabelle Guay
• Art DirectionRobert Parle
• Post Production SupervisorMichael Jackman
• Unit Production ManagerStan Wlodkowski
• Scenic ArtistSerge Archambault
• Scenic ArtistStephen Craig
• Art Department CoordinatorHélène Lamarre
• Special EffectsMarc Reichel
• Digital CompositorsVincent Forand
• Assistant Art DirectorAaron Morrison
• Supervising Sound EditorSylvain Bellemare
• Sound Design AssistantIlyaa Ghafouri

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• spacecraft
• extraterrestrial technology
• loss
• time
• alien
• language
• female protagonist
• scientist
• heartbreak
• based on short story
• alien contact
• military
• alien language
• linguist
• first contact
• communication
• linguistics
• time-manipulation
• complex
• determinism
• science fiction
• wistful
• incredulous
• hopeful

Release history · US

When it landed

• Premiere2016-09-02· Telluride Film Festival
• Premiere2016-10-28· Philadelphia International Film Festival
• Premiere2016-09-22· Fantastic Fest
• Premiere2016-10-27· Chicago International Film Festival
• Theatrical2016-11-11PG-13
• Physical2017-02-14PG-13

Also known as

International titles

• Story of Your LifeUS
• I AfixiGR
• Ha'mifgashIL
• Premier ContactFR
• A ChegadaBR
• Arrival - Warum sind sie hier?DE
• La llegadaMX
• La LlegadaES
• L'arrivéeCA
• メッセージ：2016JP
• GəlişAZ
• 컨택트KR
• ПрибуттяUA
• ԺամանումAM
• GelişTR