Wonkette Movie Night: Arrival

'But now I'm not so sure I believe in beginnings and endings. There are days that define your story beyond your life. Like the day they arrived.'

“They’re here.”

Sorry, wrong movie! But in Arrival they actually are here. The aliens are called “Heptapods” by the scientists trying to communicate with them. Hepta meaning seven and pods being those soap thingies that kids were biting into on the Ticky Tok and YouTubes. Ok, so pods actually signify feet, but you realize that words can lose meaning without context and can have different definitions. As Amy Adams’s character Dr. Banks states,

The language you speak determines how you think.

Arrival challenges our perceptions of language and time. The movie is based on “Story of Your Life,” a short story written by Ted Chiang in 1998. It starts as 12 objects of unknown origin have spread themselves around the globe, leading each of those 12 countries where the objects have landed to react in different ways to this extraterrestrial visit or invasion. At first the nations cooperate, sharing the knowledge they learn in hopes of finding a united solution. The United States brings in Dr. Banks, believing that her vast knowledge of language will allow them to communicate with the Heptapods.

Slowly, as no answers to the why of this visit are found, the people of the world start to panic. The leaders of nations start to panic. A misunderstanding of one word could bring about global devastation but one fearless woman could be the solution. Isn’t that always the way?

Arrival stars Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker, Michael Stuhlbarg, Tzi Ma, and Abigail Pniowsky. Directed by Denis Villeneuve.

Arrival is available for free with ads on YouTube. With subscription on Disney+, Paramount+ and Hulu. $3.99 in the usual places.

To make requests and see the movie lists and schedules go to WonkMovie.

The animated short is Picchu from 2022 by FuzzyPixel.

Our next Movie Night selection is High Fidelity and it is available with subscription on Hulu and Disney+. $3.99 in the usual places. Available for free on the Internet Archive (in two parts at the same link).