Arrival

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Arrival

PG-13

2016

1h 56m

Sci-Fi

Mystery & Thriller

Drama

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Popcornmeter

94%

Tomatometer

441 Reviews

83%

Popcornmeter

50,000+ Ratings

Linguistics professor Louise Banks leads an elite team of investigators when gigantic spaceships touch down in 12 locations around the world. As nations teeter on the verge of global war, Banks and her crew must race against time to find a way to communicate with the extraterrestrial visitors. Hoping to unravel the mystery, she takes a chance that could threaten her life and quite possibly all mankind.

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Critics Consensus

Arrival delivers a must-see experience for fans of thinking person's sci-fi that anchors its heady themes with genuinely affecting emotion and a terrific performance from Amy Adams.

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Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

The Blue Lenses

Aug 25, 2018

Arrival transcends the limitations that so often govern the less creative examples of the subgenre, instead using it as a loose conceptual foundation upon which to build a theoretically-informed examination of what precisely ... makes us human.

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Kristen Lopez

Culturess

Nov 20, 2017

Arrival couldn't have arrived (pun intended) at a better time.

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K. Austin Collins

The Ringer

Aug 10, 2017

I think of Arrival in terms of color: the milky grays of the clouds rolling over the Montana plain; the bright blue of computer screens bouncing off the gray tents on the makeshift army compound.

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Jonathon Wilson

Ready Steady Cut

May 30, 2026

3/5

This is atypical science fiction that, ironically, only knows how to communicate in a language we already understand.

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JD Duran

InSession Film

Aug 8, 2024

The film works as a powerful allegory for how we try to decode and interpret the tragedies of our lives.

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Ankit Ojha

Cinema Elite

Jul 9, 2024

4.5/5

Without spoiling too much, let’s just say Villeneuve and Heisserer use the Kuleshov effect to turn the non-linear storytelling of “Arrival” from a gimmick to an indispensable part of the film.

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Jonathan F

Feb 5, 2022

Extremely short-paced, felt like most of the movie was empty without a real driving story. I would have hoped for more action.

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Katie D

Mar 15, 2021

An amazing film! very well-done, thought-provoking, entertaining and unpredictable. my only complaint is about the loud horn blasts that accompany so many science fiction movie scenes - unnecessary, unrealistic and distracting! other than that it was awesome!

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Michael G

@crunchyfrog 2 days ago

The fundamental message of this movie is that we should cherish every moment, while also arguing that the past, present, and future are all predetermined. But if everything is predetermined, we cannot choose how much we cherish any given moment because the intensity of our emotions have also already been chosen for us. We're just puppets acting out a universal play. So if you don't think about the movie, it's entertaining, but the minute you think it through logically, the core message completely falls apart.

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Amir 1

@Amir1388mo 2 days ago

One of the best movies I've ever seen. A visual masterpiece with an absolutely killer soundtrack. It was insanely good, though I wasn't a huge fan of the ending

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Shaylah G

@shaylahmae 6 days ago

I was so invested in this movie that I stayed up until 3AM drunk just to finish it. A feast for a mystery lover and a twist at the end that gives you chills.

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Robert P

@Superbad Sep 16, 2026

Arrival = a *4.5* star Film

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Denis Villeneuve

Director

Amy Adams

Louise Banks

Jeremy Renner

Ian Donnelly

Forest Whitaker

Colonel Weber

Michael Stuhlbarg

Agent Halpern

Mark O'Brien

Captain Marks

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Arrival: TV Spot - Solve the Mystery

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Arrival: 'Global War' Teaser

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Synopsis

Linguistics professor Louise Banks leads an elite team of investigators when gigantic spaceships touch down in 12 locations around the world. As nations teeter on the verge of global war, Banks and her crew must race against time to find a way to communicate with the extraterrestrial visitors. Hoping to unravel the mystery, she takes a chance that could threaten her life and quite possibly all mankind.

Director: Denis Villeneuve
Producer: Shawn Levy, Dan Levine, Aaron Ryder, David Linde
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Co: 21 Laps Entertainment, Lava Bear Films, FilmNation
Rating: PG-13 (Brief Strong Language)
Genre: Sci-Fi, Mystery & Thriller, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 11, 2016, Wide
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Jan 27, 2017
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 31, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $100.5M
Runtime: 1h 56m
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital

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