No worries, I think a LOT of us got very emotional at the end! It's a heartbreaking (and brainbreaking) thing to think about: choosing to have a child who you KNOW will one day die young, because you treasure all the joy and creativity that child will bring in her limited time on earth. And choosing to marry a man who you know will one day leave you, because you love him that much.
This one honestly blew my mind. The fact that we see Louise's entire life with her daughter, and assume it's the "beginning" of the story. Then watching a second time, and realizing what she meant when she said "but now I'm not so sure I believe in beginnings and endings." A full circle moment I never saw coming. The score is also phenomenal. One of those rare ones that makes me tear up, especially with that emotional gutpunch of an ending. 😭😭😭
Actually many were confused and often said "but she had already visions before even meeting the aliens" but in fact she did not. It was just the outer meta-story of her telling the story in the future. So the moments we see right in the beginning are just memories of her in the future and when the actual story starts (in the classroom) she essentially tells us the story what happened.
The movie blew my mind the first time i saw it ... when you finally realize she's seeing the future not remembering the past, and how knowledge of the future can impact the past through the choices you make. One of my favorite movies.
@@robertbentley5470 I think it is exactly that. Time is non-linear when you learn Heptapod's, meaning that everything happen at once in your memory (that's why they used the word "perceive")... it's not a time travel movie or multiverse movie, it doesn't change the future, it simply sets in motion what's supposed to happen. Abbot knows about the bombing, he could've prevented his death by not allowing access to those soldiers to get inside, yet he didn't, because he couldn't change the future, he's just aware of it.
The actual help they would need in the future is left ambiguous, but the whole point of the "gift" was for the knowledge and understanding of their language to spread over time through people like Louise. 3,000 years sounds like a lot, but the heptapods have a different perception of time. So, it's like planting a seed and hoping for said seed to grow into a tree and bear fruit, even though it'll take forever. By the time their help is needed, humanity will be fully equipped to assist them with that knowledge now being widespread. Hope I explained that okay.
I think the reason the hetapods showed up is in what happened in the aftermath of their arrival... humanity started working together. I believe they saw that we were headed down a path of self-destruction and intervened to ensure that when they needed us in the future, we were still around.
The bird is an old mining trick. "The canary in the coal mine" was used to detect gas bubbles underground - the canary would choke and die before humans, giving miners a warning to flee.
Just occurred to me: When the Chinese General comes up to her at the gala, it’s interesting that he *shows* her his private number and tells her *what* she said that changed his mind. Then he smiles a little. Makes me wonder if he, at some future point learns the language of the aliens, which opens up how he experiences time. It was the way he told her that strikes me as interesting.
Not necessarily. He's just wise enough to know his present time situation requires him to verify the causality of his past. He's the only one who can provide the phone number, and wife's last words. So he does just that.
I don't wonder that. It's a given. Considering the film shows she taught the language to many people, taught classes about it - EVERYONE, likely most of humanity learned the language which in turn teaches them to perceive time differently and be able to "write" it from the future, since the past and future are being written at the same time, like the language. It's not a super power Louise has, it's a new skill all of humanity has. That's why the Heptipod language flag is on the wall. Their language united humanity.
Actually I think he might the only other person to already have received the gift. The way he speaks to her and shows the phone, as if it's prior knowledge for him, as well as hints through the movie that he communicated with the Hepta's a lot (using the game), made me think he might've received the gift as well. I *just* watched the movie though, but that's the impression I gor
I love this because it's so mysterious and so heartfelt at the same time. Not very many filmmakers can achieve that kind of balanced tone. Beautiful film to look at as well. Villeneuve is a true artist. Glad you enjoyed it, and loved seeing your reaction as always!
I'm 33 and know it, but even many my age and younger don't. Mining isn't nearly as prevalent in the West as it once was and many find history boring sadly.
For me the emotional part at the end comes with understanding Louise’s choice. Would you bring a child into the world knowing they would die young? She chooses to accept the beauty of spending time with her child, and loving her unconditionally. The father leaves because she reveals that she knew their child was going to die, which is something he cannot stomach (hence the line “Daddy said I made the wrong choice”.
I still get emotional every time I watch it, there is so much about it that is profound. One of my favorite things about this movie is how different they present the aliens to be. I’m so tired of humanoid shaped aliens or reptilian looking aliens. And I’ve never seen a movie really explore the whole process of learning to communicate with each other to the degree this does.
There are clues that the scenes with her daughter are taking place in the future. The cartoon that she draws is called Mommy and Daddy Talk to Animals, referring to them talking to the aliens. Also, at one point, it shows small sculptures made out of clay, and one of them resembles the aliens.
One thing that makes this one of my favorite movies is that it gets better on rewatch, because you see things you missed the first time that seem so obvious once you know the story, but were so confounding the first time watching. Absolute stellar mind bending movie. I can’t wait to see what Denis does with ‘Rendezvous With Rama’!
The Heptapods can see (or rather remember) both the future and the past as one . Their minds and language are non-linear. They can see that in 3000 years they'll need (and have) Humanity's help and that they'll only get that help if they make contact now and teach us their language. By learning their language, Louis gains their same perception of time as being non-linear so she's "remembering" her daughter in small snips as she begins to comprehend the language. She's having these memories, but doesn't have context or full understanding as of yet so she eventually asks "Who is this girl?". Ultimately, by the end of the movie, she knows her daughter will die of something like cancer and there's nothing she can do about it, but she decides to go ahead and have her daughter anyways because it's about the journey, not the destination. She doesn't tell Donnelly until well after she's born which makes him distrust her and regret having his daughter... So he leaves them knowing now that Louis kept such a horrible truth from him and tells her "You made the wrong choice" (by deciding to keep information from him and have their daughter despite knowing her fate).
Don't worry, a lot of us cried near or at the end, when we finally understand. Definitely a movie that gets better with a rewatch once you grasp the concept, you get to pick up on so many more things. Understanding that the kid and the relationship with Ian are not things that have happened in the past, that she will actually make the choice of them happening in the future knowing how it ends... it's quite something to think about. If you've never watched the other movies directed by Denis Villeneuve you really should, they all have their vibe, I always say his movies are experiences.
Ian ultimately left because Louise knew that Hannah would die young before she was born, before they were even together, and had decided that even though she had to suffer the pain of loss, Hannah's life was worth it, even if it was brief. She told Ian that Hannah would die young, and Ian thought that was wrong, and that they could have avoided this pain by not having her in the first place. The heptopods showed up now because in 3000 years the humans show up, and them showing up now and like this was in some way integral to that. This isnt a "we will need you and hopefully you'll be there", because, as their time sense is nonlinear, they *will* be there, and a part of that is coming here to start the process. It gets very emotional, and is honestly a brilliant film. And yes, it is a super realistic take on aliens showing up.
I think you were tearing up because life is not about whether or not you succeed at it, it's about the fact that you had it. It's the journey, not the destination, and it's okay to know it can be short.
What I got out of it: language allows the perception of things like time,. The alien language allows the true understanding of time, time is nonlinear. There is no past/present/future. It's all one, all now. That's why she can hop around in her life. She's not going forwards and backwards in time. There is no forwards and backwards in time. She is moving to different moments in her life, all of which are 'active'. This means her life is locked in. She ALWAYS talks to those aliens, she ALWAYS talks to that Chinese general, she ALWAYS has her daughter, and her daughter ALWAYS dies. That's why at the end she says she chooses to embrace what's coming. A lot of people think she chooses to go ahead and have the daughter even knowing what's coming. That's not what's happening. Her choice is in how she handles what is coming, she has no power to change it. This story has implications regarding free will and I think that's why many people prefer to think she chooses to live that future. Most people like the idea of having free will so a story where you don't have free will causes issues with them. The happy ending of this story is the fact that this means humanity will still exist thousands of years from now and we will help the aliens with whatever problem they have.
It has a real "Slaughterhouse 5" feel to it, doesn't it, with the deterministic aspect? Though this movie hits me so much more emotionally than that one does. Arrival is one of my faves. Maybe because their isn't a hint of fatalism in it. It's replaced by hope.
As a mother, my perception of time has changed because I can certainly, through memories, experience moments in my life at will, including those that occurred prior to her birth. I don’t know what will happen but an educated guess based on available information can give me some insight. My daughter is bilingual and I’m not, so one fascinating aspect of this movie is connected to the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis of linguistic relativity. Slaughterhouse Five is also a great book and movie and was my first introduction to the concept of linear time.
But didn’t her husband learn the language too? Wouldn’t he see the future as well? I never understood why she had to reveal anything to him about Hannah, especially several years into her young life.
@@vbvermont The implication I got from the movie is that lots of people can, and did, learn the language. But that doesn't mean they automatically have the skills to USE the language that way. Louise herself struggled to use it in any kind of useful way. The concept does raise questions. How many people would really want to know their future? Knowing your future risks being very unhappy with an outcome you can't change.
Nominated for 8 Oscars including Best Picture but won for Best Picture but won for Best Sound Editing. Speaking of Oscars, Everything Everywhere All At Once has been nominated for 11 Academy Awards including Best Picture!
I don't know much about sound editing and never paid attention to the category before, but as soon as the nominees were read at the Oscars I just knew Arrival had to win. I really wanted a win for Amy Adams too. Overall it's just a gorgeous piece of sci-fi.
I get it… I also felt that when the movie finished, you cannot describe it but it’s real… and it’s amazing how a book about aliens can be turned into a science fiction masterpiece about humanity!
I love how Ian talks to Louise through the movie. You can tell he's a stand up guy, and the way he holds her and is concerned for her was so endearing.
This movie is so underrated. I remember wanting to see this in theaters but couldn’t get a ride. I thought it was going to be a sci-fi horror film but after finally getting to watch it… mind blown. Such a fricking mind ride. I had to explain this movie to my mother a few dozens times lol it is genuinely unique. It’s not a movie I can watch very often, but it really sticks with you and it is absolutely a movie I recommend everyone see at least once, even if you need to have everyone explain it to you. Small edit: in case it wasn’t mentioned in the comments yet, though it probably was lol they came to us 3000 years in their past because they needed her to teach the universal language to humans so that we could grow on the right path so that we could help them when they needed it. It was a trade they already knew would pay off as fourth dimensional beings (I think; that’s speculation on my part)
Arrival is my favorite "First Contact" movie - and maybe my all-time favorite film (so far). Louise spells it right out in the opening lines of the film - only it's not apparent until the end of the film. They literally start it out with a spoiler. "Memory is a strange thing. It doesn't work the way I thought". The great thing about Arrival (and other films like 12 Monkeys) is that the second (and subsequent) time watching, it's a different film - since you already know the entire journey. Yet it's at least as engaging as the first time. Maybe re-watching the movie puts you more in Louise's mindset. Your memory works in both directions, yet that doesn't make the experience any less compelling.
I really like how films like The Arrival are breaking the traditional cliche of having a sci-fi theme but focus more on an emotional story as opppsed to an accompanying horror or action element. Interstellar is another prime example that's gotten very good attention from reactors. A lesser well known movie would be Gravity, although it maintains fast pacing as opposed to a slower buildup like The Arrival or Interstellar. We need more experiences like these overall.
@@TimpanistMoth_AyKayEll True. I can't even imagine how much money and effort went into mimicking the simulation of being in space for the film. Also worth noting Alfanso Cuaron won the Best Directing Oscar for Gravity.
@@kuhpunkt Fair enough. As a movie buff, I know of many similarities in films sounding similar. Heat and The Heat. The Messenger, The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc, The Messengers, The Messengers 2: The Scarecrow. The Thing from Another World, The Thing 1984 remake and The Thing 2011 prequel to the remake.
@@TimpanistMoth_AyKayEllThe problem with Gravity is that the people who made it didn't understand physics at all. He supposedly cuts the line to keep from pulling her with him, because gravity is pulling him. Would this be the same gravity that isn't noticeably affecting the massive space station that they're hanging onto? But yet, it's going to rip the two of them away from it? Complete nonsense. Once he hit the end of the tether and his momentum was stopped, he'd just float there. There wouldn't be any constant pull. She could have then easily reeled him in. It's like those scenes where someone opens a door on a plane or an airlock on a spaceship, and there's constant suction trying to suck them out until the door is closed. In reality, all the air would be sucked out in about half a second and then it would just be windy on the plane, or completely airless on the spaceship.
Now just consider that the aliens' view of time means they know their whole lives how they're going to die. Which in Abbot's case means going on this mission and acting out all the steps of setting up contact with Earth, knowing all the while that he won't live to see it actually happen.
Now that's a proper introduction! I love this movie- the cinematography, music score, the acting, the story, the twists, and of course- Abbot & Costello ❤️😍. Haha. Watching your fear at first watching. Not all aliens are aggressive. Hope you learn to love this movie for its beauty, like many of us have❤️✌️ I'd love a tattoo of their symbol for peace👍
Just a heads up Sam, The general's wife's dying words, "In war, there are no winners, only widows." --------- With the gift of seeing the foresight, Louise knew she had to act fast to prevent a War from starting. If she hadn't been there or just done as she was told, the War would have begun.-------- To know the past present and future is such a mind f*$&k.------ I don't know if I could handle it. I might turn into Dr. Ma
It's better to love than to never have loved , that's for sure.. I could give you a pretty emotional And personal reasons why , but I'll just leave it there.. Another movie you might like is the movie contact
You’re doing Contact TOO! ? I adore Arrival and I’m watching your reaction right now. Contact was a film I watched in the theater with my mother just a few days after my father died in 1997. Both of these films are STELLAR! Great to see you doing such terrific films, as usual. I’m still pulling for The Fisher King with Robin Williams. Seattle is sending you love!
Yeah Ian leaves her becasue she tells him she knew if they had a baby she would die of this desease and she didn’t tell him or offer him a say in it. I could understand the anger being a dad of three lives of my life my daughters ,..but at the same time I’d chose to go through the pain of a child getting sick to have whatever amount of time I could have with her. The option was not having a baby , not bringing their Love of their lives their daughter into existence . She experinced moments with her their daughter in the future , it would be not giving her daughter life and not ever existing or having the years they did healthy. She’d of known if she did that Ian would leave, so it’s likely Ian wouldn’t have wanted to the daughter to experince it but the fact she was seeing it WAS her future , she couldn’t change that if she wanted. Beautiful movie!
Thank you so much for reviewing one of my favourite movies. We don’t know what we don’t know is a fitting sentiment being illustrated here. Linear time and perception based on language are fascinating topics as well. I wept when I saw this in the theatre because it was at that time in history when a human monster was elected as the leader of free world so any unification was impossible. I’m a proud atheist so I don’t believe in providence, but I felt a great sadness for the world because it verified how incredibly unlikely it is for humans to even want to understand each other.
40:10 it raises the question that, if you know how your life is going to be, how everthing ends, and in this case, how your loved ones leave you, would you still embrace it, or find another way to change it? And she choses the first option. It's not that their leaves are important, it's that the time and the memories we shared with them. If you choose to be afraid of losing, then you end up having nothing. "Your arrival is more important than your departure"
35:58 you don't need to excuse your thoughts. It's your primal instinct to fight or flight when your facing something you don't know or something unknown is coming towards you. Like with primates Survival instinct basically. Imadgining yourself in this scenario and trying to read the room if it's safe or not
Hey Sam, Arrival makes us ponder the conundrum If you knew the future and it's not all good. Would you want to change it? -------- Sometimes we need to go through the bad days to come out and be strong to handle the future that is to come.------- To learn what we are truly capable of and what are the things we can handle. -------- Men and women alike have always pondered these questions.
I didnt really care for Villienueves movies, till I saw both Sicario and Arrival!dang he is a great storyteller and got great great cinematographers to work with too!
22:30 spoiler if you haven't seen the end yet: It's so cool. The first time I saw this I thought 'somehow the Heptapods knew the bomb was there and they protected Louise and Ian'. Now I know that they had probably already seen this future, this moment, and they had already made their choice.
Question: would you have a child if you knew they would die? Her choice was yes (obviously) His choice would have been no (if he had known) .... he told her she chose wrong when she told him.
@@kuhpunkt yes, but its usually after the parents. What if you knew your child would die before adulthood and would be in a lot of pain before they pass...is it selfish to put a child through that if you knew beforehand. I don't have an answer.
Another movie about aliens that came out in the 80s or 90s.....was 'The Arrival'. That one was definitely more action-packed, yet different enough to hold my attention. Charlie Sheen starred.
This movie completely took me by surprise. I am usually pretty good at figuring out a storyline well in advance and I did not with this one. Defs hit me in all the feels at the end. Probably more than most as someone who struggles with infertility. This movie is a crazy ride!
Hey Sam, in response to seeing "Arrival" I think you should watch, "District 9" it also has some mind-blowing ideas wrapped in the arrival of an alien species. It's one of my favorite movies of all time. Plus let's continue the trippy movie content you've been delighting yourself on for the past month or so. Ha
Hey Sam, I think the premise of "Arrival" is messing you up at so many levels becasue as a media consumer and gamer, most of the games that are created are with the bassis that when aliens arrive they are coming to take over the earth or the human race or some version of the idea. ------ "Arrival" fliips that on it's head and makes you realize that humans themselves are the ones that are the greatest threat if an unknown entity were to arrive. Humans would provoke an attack and as such trigger an interplanetary showdown. ------- "Arrival" gives you a different perspective on this the alien arrival/ first contact idea.
I remember hearing good things about "Arrival" (2016), so I searched for it on HBO and Showtime. I found that it has a (sorta) "unstuck in time" vibe I saw in "Slaughterhouse-Five" (1972). The Aliens were far beyond the usual SF Kaiju and first contact was just as unexpected. As the tale unfolded, the concept of the interrelationship of Language and Time is/was unique. As in "Quantum Leap," (1989-1993) Time is a circle, without the usual Then vs. Now constraints. Hard Science Fiction, is like "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968), it asks questions and present concepts that keep you engaged, playing in your mind long after the film ends.
To be honest, I've always thought the military and China part of the plot were just vehicles to enable the true points of the movie, which were around the nature of language and how it shapes our thought, the power of a parent's love for their child, and the importance of the experiences of life vs our ultimate destination. The alien plot is just a red herring in a lot of ways.
If you liked the sci fi aspect of this movie then you should also watch....the premier episode of Star Trek Deep Space Nine. It is legitimately one of the best sci fi stories done.
It wasn't a test. We establish that the language you use affects how you view the world. If you learn a new one, that will affect your perception. The aliens can see the future because of how their language works so they knew they will need our help in 3000 years, but to get to the point where we both know them and can help them, they would have to help us first. So they came to give us the gift of their language, so we could make better choices and make them more deliberately when we knew what the full consequences of those choices were. Amy Adams' character learns the language and writes a book about it and teaches classes on it to help spread it so more and more people can use that gift
Also one of the best sci fi movies ever made. Most people get lost in the Star Wars Star Trek sci fi action stuff. Its things like this movie though are the heart of what good sci fi is. That's why you notice even Star Wars for all its pew-pew syill has to have deep moments that challenge your mind to expand, and how those effect relationships.
There are a few questions people should have when it comes to aliens in the real world or space travel. One of my biggest questions growing up watching sci-fi, or as an adult when I got into comic books, was how would we communicate with aliens once we make contact. Deciphering human languages aren't that hard for trained linguists. Not to mention the fact that a lot of human languages are related to other languages. Technically they've all evolved from just a few original languages. But an alien language... well, we're not going to be as lucky as those folks that discovered the Rosetta Stone. There just isn't one for aliens.
Beautiful film making. I fully believed the child dying was a trauma thing to open the movie with (inciding incident/backstory), but what it turned out to be is so much cooler. (Still sad, but really cool film making language - and it ties the 'no beginning no end, not forward or backwards' together.
I can't believe I keep forgetting this film exists because I absolutely loved it when I first saw it. Only about 15 minutes into your reaction but I love it. I'ma have to watch your Inception one next 'cause that's my favorite film
They were there to give humanity a tool to help it survive and for the language (and the ability to understand time the heptapod way) to be disseminated so that we can help when they return in 3000 years.
Definitely one of my favorite films. I believe there's possibly other intelligent life out there somewhere but they are likely to never reach us. Beautiful reaction to a beautiful movie 💖
40:18 - They can see the future, just as humans who learn their language can. The main implication I get here is that you can only see into your own future, so wouldn't know anything beyond your death, which also implies the heptapods have a lifespan of over 3000 years (or maybe this only applies to the ones who travelled to earth because of relativistic time shift, but then, how would they have known to come here?)
I always say…if aliens landed on earth, I would go right to them. Because, if they are friendly, great! And if they are not, we have already lost / have no chance against their technology.
1. You managed to completely forget they can see the future. They know humans will be there for them. 2. They literally said they needed to give us the weapon of time now so we could learn to use it to help them in the future.
To your 'Why now?' point: The problem is that we don't know what they need help with - what is going to be their situation. So the writer could pick almost any arbitrary amount of time, as long as it was not too soon for it to seem believable that we'd have developed the capability to assist an alien civilisation. Remember, we have to have developed the technology to get to them (probably requiring faster than light travel of some sort), *and* the capacity to do whatever it is we need to do to help them, *and* then travel there (which might take quite a long time even with FTLT). So 3000 years could be explicable.
If time is Linear and you tried to change either the past or the future, then there would be Time Paradoxes which would end the universe, but if time is Non-Linear and loops like this movie implies; then instead of the universe ending an alternate universe is then created. In other words, the multiversal theory, which states that if you change either the past or future another universe branches off from our own and creates an entirely new universe, would be correct.
No worries, I think a LOT of us got very emotional at the end! It's a heartbreaking (and brainbreaking) thing to think about: choosing to have a child who you KNOW will one day die young, because you treasure all the joy and creativity that child will bring in her limited time on earth. And choosing to marry a man who you know will one day leave you, because you love him that much.
This one honestly blew my mind. The fact that we see Louise's entire life with her daughter, and assume it's the "beginning" of the story.
Then watching a second time, and realizing what she meant when she said "but now I'm not so sure I believe in beginnings and endings." A full circle moment I never saw coming.
The score is also phenomenal. One of those rare ones that makes me tear up, especially with that emotional gutpunch of an ending. 😭😭😭
Actually many were confused and often said "but she had already visions before even meeting the aliens" but in fact she did not. It was just the outer meta-story of her telling the story in the future. So the moments we see right in the beginning are just memories of her in the future and when the actual story starts (in the classroom) she essentially tells us the story what happened.
The movie blew my mind the first time i saw it ... when you finally realize she's seeing the future not remembering the past, and how knowledge of the future can impact the past through the choices you make. One of my favorite movies.
i got the impression that she was "remembering" the future rather than seeing it. if that makes sense.
@@robertbentley5470 I like your phrasing better ... remembering the future
@@robertbentley5470 I think it is exactly that. Time is non-linear when you learn Heptapod's, meaning that everything happen at once in your memory (that's why they used the word "perceive")... it's not a time travel movie or multiverse movie, it doesn't change the future, it simply sets in motion what's supposed to happen. Abbot knows about the bombing, he could've prevented his death by not allowing access to those soldiers to get inside, yet he didn't, because he couldn't change the future, he's just aware of it.
The actual help they would need in the future is left ambiguous, but the whole point of the "gift" was for the knowledge and understanding of their language to spread over time through people like Louise.
3,000 years sounds like a lot, but the heptapods have a different perception of time. So, it's like planting a seed and hoping for said seed to grow into a tree and bear fruit, even though it'll take forever.
By the time their help is needed, humanity will be fully equipped to assist them with that knowledge now being widespread. Hope I explained that okay.
I’m glad that was left ambiguous because (I haven’t read it yet) but apparently the book doesn’t explain why the heptapods showed up either at all
@@jambulance It's not a book. It's a short story called The Story of Your Life. The author was my daughter's writing mentor.
@@jainthorne4136 ah my bad I didn't factor in the distinction, that's pretty cool to know though!
I think the reason the hetapods showed up is in what happened in the aftermath of their arrival... humanity started working together. I believe they saw that we were headed down a path of self-destruction and intervened to ensure that when they needed us in the future, we were still around.
The bird is an old mining trick. "The canary in the coal mine" was used to detect gas bubbles underground - the canary would choke and die before humans, giving miners a warning to flee.
Anyone who doesn't tear up at the end of this movie didn't understand it. It's cool.
This is an incredible story. Great reaction, thank you.
"If you want science, go to your father." That was the moment I knew.
I was genuinely thinking it during that part but didn't speak on it because we moved on quickly ughhh
Yess
Just occurred to me: When the Chinese General comes up to her at the gala, it’s interesting that he *shows* her his private number and tells her *what* she said that changed his mind. Then he smiles a little. Makes me wonder if he, at some future point learns the language of the aliens, which opens up how he experiences time. It was the way he told her that strikes me as interesting.
Not necessarily. He's just wise enough to know his present time situation requires him to verify the causality of his past. He's the only one who can provide the phone number, and wife's last words. So he does just that.
I don't wonder that. It's a given. Considering the film shows she taught the language to many people, taught classes about it - EVERYONE, likely most of humanity learned the language which in turn teaches them to perceive time differently and be able to "write" it from the future, since the past and future are being written at the same time, like the language. It's not a super power Louise has, it's a new skill all of humanity has. That's why the Heptipod language flag is on the wall. Their language united humanity.
He definitely had learned it, just not nearly as quickly as Louise did. That's why he instinctively knew to show it to her.
Actually I think he might the only other person to already have received the gift. The way he speaks to her and shows the phone, as if it's prior knowledge for him, as well as hints through the movie that he communicated with the Hepta's a lot (using the game), made me think he might've received the gift as well.
I *just* watched the movie though, but that's the impression I gor
I love this because it's so mysterious and so heartfelt at the same time. Not very many filmmakers can achieve that kind of balanced tone. Beautiful film to look at as well. Villeneuve is a true artist. Glad you enjoyed it, and loved seeing your reaction as always!
From watching this and other reactions to Arrival, I'm surprised by how many people seem unfamiliar with the concept of canaries in coalmines.
I feel it’s not the most common thing to know nowadays 😅
I'm 33 and know it, but even many my age and younger don't. Mining isn't nearly as prevalent in the West as it once was and many find history boring sadly.
I'm 23 and I know about it
For me the emotional part at the end comes with understanding Louise’s choice. Would you bring a child into the world knowing they would die young? She chooses to accept the beauty of spending time with her child, and loving her unconditionally. The father leaves because she reveals that she knew their child was going to die, which is something he cannot stomach (hence the line “Daddy said I made the wrong choice”.
But didn’t he learn the language too? Wouldn’t he see the future as well?
@@vbvermont he didn't learn it nearly as quickly as Louise
That line: “I will never forget what you told me” and then it was “my wife’s dying words” always gives me goosebumps wow!
I still get emotional every time I watch it, there is so much about it that is profound. One of my favorite things about this movie is how different they present the aliens to be. I’m so tired of humanoid shaped aliens or reptilian looking aliens. And I’ve never seen a movie really explore the whole process of learning to communicate with each other to the degree this does.
There are clues that the scenes with her daughter are taking place in the future. The cartoon that she draws is called Mommy and Daddy Talk to Animals, referring to them talking to the aliens. Also, at one point, it shows small sculptures made out of clay, and one of them resembles the aliens.
One thing that makes this one of my favorite movies is that it gets better on rewatch, because you see things you missed the first time that seem so obvious once you know the story, but were so confounding the first time watching. Absolute stellar mind bending movie. I can’t wait to see what Denis does with ‘Rendezvous With Rama’!
agreed!
this movie is bloody brilliant! ♥ every second! One of best movie of the last 20 years!
The Heptapods can see (or rather remember) both the future and the past as one . Their minds and language are non-linear. They can see that in 3000 years they'll need (and have) Humanity's help and that they'll only get that help if they make contact now and teach us their language. By learning their language, Louis gains their same perception of time as being non-linear so she's "remembering" her daughter in small snips as she begins to comprehend the language. She's having these memories, but doesn't have context or full understanding as of yet so she eventually asks "Who is this girl?".
Ultimately, by the end of the movie, she knows her daughter will die of something like cancer and there's nothing she can do about it, but she decides to go ahead and have her daughter anyways because it's about the journey, not the destination. She doesn't tell Donnelly until well after she's born which makes him distrust her and regret having his daughter... So he leaves them knowing now that Louis kept such a horrible truth from him and tells her "You made the wrong choice" (by deciding to keep information from him and have their daughter despite knowing her fate).
I swear, this is the most stressed I've seen you in a movie. It definitely has an emotional twist you don't see coming. A highly underrated film.
I was big time stressed out 😂 Something just so ominous about everything. Maybe because it just felt so real
How is it highly underrated?
Don't worry, a lot of us cried near or at the end, when we finally understand. Definitely a movie that gets better with a rewatch once you grasp the concept, you get to pick up on so many more things. Understanding that the kid and the relationship with Ian are not things that have happened in the past, that she will actually make the choice of them happening in the future knowing how it ends... it's quite something to think about. If you've never watched the other movies directed by Denis Villeneuve you really should, they all have their vibe, I always say his movies are experiences.
I'm automatically concerned for and suspicious of anyone who doesn't get emotional watching this movie. Great reaction!!!
I love that for most of the movie you think it's a movie about aliens but in the end you realize it's about family, love and the choices we make.
They need the help in the future so the said they came to “ help” humanity to not eliminate itself 40:51
All time top 3 movie for me. It somehow gets better every time I watch it. Denis Villeneuve is a sci-fi master.
Ian ultimately left because Louise knew that Hannah would die young before she was born, before they were even together, and had decided that even though she had to suffer the pain of loss, Hannah's life was worth it, even if it was brief. She told Ian that Hannah would die young, and Ian thought that was wrong, and that they could have avoided this pain by not having her in the first place.
The heptopods showed up now because in 3000 years the humans show up, and them showing up now and like this was in some way integral to that. This isnt a "we will need you and hopefully you'll be there", because, as their time sense is nonlinear, they *will* be there, and a part of that is coming here to start the process.
It gets very emotional, and is honestly a brilliant film. And yes, it is a super realistic take on aliens showing up.
I think you were tearing up because life is not about whether or not you succeed at it, it's about the fact that you had it. It's the journey, not the destination, and it's okay to know it can be short.
What I got out of it: language allows the perception of things like time,. The alien language allows the true understanding of time, time is nonlinear. There is no past/present/future. It's all one, all now. That's why she can hop around in her life. She's not going forwards and backwards in time. There is no forwards and backwards in time. She is moving to different moments in her life, all of which are 'active'. This means her life is locked in. She ALWAYS talks to those aliens, she ALWAYS talks to that Chinese general, she ALWAYS has her daughter, and her daughter ALWAYS dies. That's why at the end she says she chooses to embrace what's coming. A lot of people think she chooses to go ahead and have the daughter even knowing what's coming. That's not what's happening. Her choice is in how she handles what is coming, she has no power to change it. This story has implications regarding free will and I think that's why many people prefer to think she chooses to live that future. Most people like the idea of having free will so a story where you don't have free will causes issues with them. The happy ending of this story is the fact that this means humanity will still exist thousands of years from now and we will help the aliens with whatever problem they have.
Agreed! That's some quantum mechanics for ya 🤓
It has a real "Slaughterhouse 5" feel to it, doesn't it, with the deterministic aspect? Though this movie hits me so much more emotionally than that one does. Arrival is one of my faves. Maybe because their isn't a hint of fatalism in it. It's replaced by hope.
As a mother, my perception of time has changed because I can certainly, through memories,
experience moments in my life at will, including those that occurred prior to her birth. I don’t know what will happen but an educated guess based on available information can give me some insight.
My daughter is bilingual and I’m not, so one fascinating aspect of this movie is connected to the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis of linguistic relativity.
Slaughterhouse Five is also a great book and movie and was my first introduction to the concept of linear time.
But didn’t her husband learn the language too? Wouldn’t he see the future as well? I never understood why she had to reveal anything to him about Hannah, especially several years into her young life.
@@vbvermont The implication I got from the movie is that lots of people can, and did, learn the language. But that doesn't mean they automatically have the skills to USE the language that way. Louise herself struggled to use it in any kind of useful way. The concept does raise questions. How many people would really want to know their future? Knowing your future risks being very unhappy with an outcome you can't change.
Nominated for 8 Oscars including Best Picture but won for Best Picture but won for Best Sound Editing.
Speaking of Oscars, Everything Everywhere All At Once has been nominated for 11 Academy Awards including Best Picture!
I don't know much about sound editing and never paid attention to the category before, but as soon as the nominees were read at the Oscars I just knew Arrival had to win. I really wanted a win for Amy Adams too. Overall it's just a gorgeous piece of sci-fi.
I get it… I also felt that when the movie finished, you cannot describe it but it’s real… and it’s amazing how a book about aliens can be turned into a science fiction masterpiece about humanity!
I love how Ian talks to Louise through the movie. You can tell he's a stand up guy, and the way he holds her and is concerned for her was so endearing.
Like you can tell he's slowly falling for her
This movie is so underrated. I remember wanting to see this in theaters but couldn’t get a ride. I thought it was going to be a sci-fi horror film but after finally getting to watch it… mind blown. Such a fricking mind ride. I had to explain this movie to my mother a few dozens times lol it is genuinely unique. It’s not a movie I can watch very often, but it really sticks with you and it is absolutely a movie I recommend everyone see at least once, even if you need to have everyone explain it to you.
Small edit: in case it wasn’t mentioned in the comments yet, though it probably was lol they came to us 3000 years in their past because they needed her to teach the universal language to humans so that we could grow on the right path so that we could help them when they needed it. It was a trade they already knew would pay off as fourth dimensional beings (I think; that’s speculation on my part)
Arrival is my favorite "First Contact" movie - and maybe my all-time favorite film (so far). Louise spells it right out in the opening lines of the film - only it's not apparent until the end of the film. They literally start it out with a spoiler. "Memory is a strange thing. It doesn't work the way I thought". The great thing about Arrival (and other films like 12 Monkeys) is that the second (and subsequent) time watching, it's a different film - since you already know the entire journey. Yet it's at least as engaging as the first time. Maybe re-watching the movie puts you more in Louise's mindset. Your memory works in both directions, yet that doesn't make the experience any less compelling.
I absolutely bawled the first time I watched this one. Such gorgeous story telling!!!
I really like how films like The Arrival are breaking the traditional cliche of having a sci-fi theme but focus more on an emotional story as opppsed to an accompanying horror or action element. Interstellar is another prime example that's gotten very good attention from reactors. A lesser well known movie would be Gravity, although it maintains fast pacing as opposed to a slower buildup like The Arrival or Interstellar. We need more experiences like these overall.
Gravity is one of the scariest goddamned movies I've ever seen. And it's just - physics. That's it. Space is TERRIFYING.
@@TimpanistMoth_AyKayEll True. I can't even imagine how much money and effort went into mimicking the simulation of being in space for the film. Also worth noting Alfanso Cuaron won the Best Directing Oscar for Gravity.
It's Arrival, not The Arrival. The Arrival is a different movie.
@@kuhpunkt Fair enough. As a movie buff, I know of many similarities in films sounding similar. Heat and The Heat. The Messenger, The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc, The Messengers, The Messengers 2: The Scarecrow. The Thing from Another World, The Thing 1984 remake and The Thing 2011 prequel to the remake.
@@TimpanistMoth_AyKayEllThe problem with Gravity is that the people who made it didn't understand physics at all. He supposedly cuts the line to keep from pulling her with him, because gravity is pulling him. Would this be the same gravity that isn't noticeably affecting the massive space station that they're hanging onto? But yet, it's going to rip the two of them away from it? Complete nonsense.
Once he hit the end of the tether and his momentum was stopped, he'd just float there. There wouldn't be any constant pull. She could have then easily reeled him in.
It's like those scenes where someone opens a door on a plane or an airlock on a spaceship, and there's constant suction trying to suck them out until the door is closed. In reality, all the air would be sucked out in about half a second and then it would just be windy on the plane, or completely airless on the spaceship.
The purpose of the bird is to be like a warning if the air has become toxic or no oxygen, the bird will die because it breathes oxygen like us.
Love your reaction. I think you're right that it takes more than one viewing.
Now just consider that the aliens' view of time means they know their whole lives how they're going to die. Which in Abbot's case means going on this mission and acting out all the steps of setting up contact with Earth, knowing all the while that he won't live to see it actually happen.
"Of course they have tentacles" lol
They have tentacles? They have tentacles!
Now that's a proper introduction! I love this movie- the cinematography, music score, the acting, the story, the twists, and of course- Abbot & Costello ❤️😍.
Haha. Watching your fear at first watching. Not all aliens are aggressive. Hope you learn to love this movie for its beauty, like many of us have❤️✌️
I'd love a tattoo of their symbol for peace👍
Always appreciate your reactions. You are so authentic and express what many of us have felt and thought as we watched these films. Thank you.
Thanks so much!
Just a heads up Sam, The general's wife's dying words, "In war, there are no winners, only widows." --------- With the gift of seeing the foresight, Louise knew she had to act fast to prevent a War from starting. If she hadn't been there or just done as she was told, the War would have begun.-------- To know the past present and future is such a mind f*$&k.------ I don't know if I could handle it. I might turn into Dr. Ma
Great reaction. I love this movie so much, it's stunning. Villeneuve just doesn't miss
In the novella - SPOILER:
Her daughter dies in an accident. For some reason, Louise does not prevent it.
They needed Louise to learn the language, then pass the knowledge on, so that in 3000 years they would be prepared to help them!
It's better to love than to never have loved , that's for sure.. I could give you a pretty emotional And personal reasons why , but I'll just leave it there.. Another movie you might like is the movie contact
Funny enough, Contact is Friday's reaction 👀
Yay!! Contact is another personal fav.
Case by case basis.
You’re doing Contact TOO! ? I adore Arrival and I’m watching your reaction right now. Contact was a film I watched in the theater with my mother just a few days after my father died in 1997. Both of these films are STELLAR! Great to see you doing such terrific films, as usual. I’m still pulling for The Fisher King with Robin Williams. Seattle is sending you love!
A very underrated sci-fi movie is The Arrival with Charlie Sheen from 1996. It's pretty good. Worth a watch.
Yeah Ian leaves her becasue she tells him she knew if they had a baby she would die of this desease and she didn’t tell him or offer him a say in it. I could understand the anger being a dad of three lives of my life my daughters ,..but at the same time I’d chose to go through the pain of a child getting sick to have whatever amount of time I could have with her. The option was not having a baby , not bringing their Love of their lives their daughter into existence . She experinced moments with her their daughter in the future , it would be not giving her daughter life and not ever existing or having the years they did healthy. She’d of known if she did that Ian would leave, so it’s likely Ian wouldn’t have wanted to the daughter to experince it but the fact she was seeing it WAS her future , she couldn’t change that if she wanted. Beautiful movie!
Thank you so much for reviewing one of my favourite movies.
We don’t know what we don’t know is a fitting sentiment being illustrated here.
Linear time and perception based on language are fascinating topics as well.
I wept when I saw this in the theatre because it was at that time in history when a human monster was elected as the leader of free world so any unification was impossible.
I’m a proud atheist so I don’t believe in providence, but I felt a great sadness for the world because it verified how incredibly unlikely it is for humans to even want to understand each other.
40:10 it raises the question that, if you know how your life is going to be, how everthing ends, and in this case, how your loved ones leave you, would you still embrace it, or find another way to change it? And she choses the first option. It's not that their leaves are important, it's that the time and the memories we shared with them. If you choose to be afraid of losing, then you end up having nothing. "Your arrival is more important than your departure"
You really are watching all these mind benders lately haha good movie! Think you could use a comedy no-thinking break for the next movie
THATS WHAT I SAID 😂 I said in the reaction (didn’t include it in the edit I don’t think) that I need to watch a comedy. Too many trippy movies 😂
A cool thing about this is that Abbott was always late to show up, probably because he knew he would die and was dreading it every time
8:10 the sound of goosebumps 😂. Love your reactions!🎉
This was the only movie that I ever went to the theater to see, and I was the only person in the theater.
35:58 you don't need to excuse your thoughts. It's your primal instinct to fight or flight when your facing something you don't know or something unknown is coming towards you. Like with primates
Survival instinct basically. Imadgining yourself in this scenario and trying to read the room if it's safe or not
Hey Sam, Arrival makes us ponder the conundrum If you knew the future and it's not all good. Would you want to change it? -------- Sometimes we need to go through the bad days to come out and be strong to handle the future that is to come.------- To learn what we are truly capable of and what are the things we can handle. -------- Men and women alike have always pondered these questions.
One of my faves. Beautiful movie!
I didnt really care for Villienueves movies, till I saw both Sicario and Arrival!dang he is a great storyteller and got great great cinematographers to work with too!
@@johnbernhardtsen3008 agree the cinematography is absolutely stunning. The first view of the ship in the clouds gives me goosebumps every time!
22:30 spoiler if you haven't seen the end yet:
It's so cool. The first time I saw this I thought 'somehow the Heptapods knew the bomb was there and they protected Louise and Ian'.
Now I know that they had probably already seen this future, this moment, and they had already made their choice.
I also now wonder if Abbott started dying because they saved Louise and Ian from the explosion.
Yes you got it in the end!!
Question: would you have a child if you knew they would die? Her choice was yes (obviously) His choice would have been no (if he had known) .... he told her she chose wrong when she told him.
It's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all, as sad as it is
I wouldn't ever give up having my kids, even knowing what the future holds. But is that just selfishness on my part?
@@its_susanne Well, every parent knows that their child will die one day.
@@kuhpunkt yes, but its usually after the parents. What if you knew your child would die before adulthood and would be in a lot of pain before they pass...is it selfish to put a child through that if you knew beforehand. I don't have an answer.
Another movie about aliens that came out in the 80s or 90s.....was 'The Arrival'. That one was definitely more action-packed, yet different enough to hold my attention. Charlie Sheen starred.
It's a movie about unconditional love. The thing with the aliens is just the background to the story.
33:30 💡
My first thought was "Mr. Hankey"
They arrived early to teach humans how to see the future.
This movie completely took me by surprise. I am usually pretty good at figuring out a storyline well in advance and I did not with this one. Defs hit me in all the feels at the end. Probably more than most as someone who struggles with infertility.
This movie is a crazy ride!
Hey Sam, in response to seeing "Arrival" I think you should watch, "District 9" it also has some mind-blowing ideas wrapped in the arrival of an alien species. It's one of my favorite movies of all time. Plus let's continue the trippy movie content you've been delighting yourself on for the past month or so. Ha
One of my favorite movies. Mind bending sci fi with heart testing love of her child.
For another excellent movie, try "Hacksaw Ridge."
One of my favourites movies. Great!!!!
I love this movie. Have nothing else to say.
Denis Villeneuve will make you cry, and you will like it. It's his deal.
/sound/ - (Brain Explosion) - This film is the best! Fun to watch your brain melt and experience it for the first time. Thank you!
Hey Sam, I think the premise of "Arrival" is messing you up at so many levels becasue as a media consumer and gamer, most of the games that are created are with the bassis that when aliens arrive they are coming to take over the earth or the human race or some version of the idea. ------ "Arrival" fliips that on it's head and makes you realize that humans themselves are the ones that are the greatest threat if an unknown entity were to arrive. Humans would provoke an attack and as such trigger an interplanetary showdown. ------- "Arrival" gives you a different perspective on this the alien arrival/ first contact idea.
I love this reaction. It's very much like my own reaction to this film the first time i saw it.
I remember hearing good things about "Arrival" (2016), so I searched for it on HBO and Showtime. I found that it has a (sorta) "unstuck in time" vibe I saw in "Slaughterhouse-Five" (1972). The Aliens were far beyond the usual SF Kaiju and first contact was just as unexpected. As the tale unfolded, the concept of the interrelationship of Language and Time is/was unique. As in "Quantum Leap," (1989-1993) Time is a circle, without the usual Then vs. Now constraints. Hard Science Fiction, is like "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968), it asks questions and present concepts that keep you engaged, playing in your mind long after the film ends.
To be honest, I've always thought the military and China part of the plot were just vehicles to enable the true points of the movie, which were around the nature of language and how it shapes our thought, the power of a parent's love for their child, and the importance of the experiences of life vs our ultimate destination. The alien plot is just a red herring in a lot of ways.
I love love love love love this movie
I cry every time
This movie blows my mind
Lol. I'm so excited to watch this. I will cry the entire time I watch it tho. 😂
If you liked the sci fi aspect of this movie then you should also watch....the premier episode of Star Trek Deep Space Nine. It is legitimately one of the best sci fi stories done.
It wasn't a test. We establish that the language you use affects how you view the world. If you learn a new one, that will affect your perception. The aliens can see the future because of how their language works so they knew they will need our help in 3000 years, but to get to the point where we both know them and can help them, they would have to help us first. So they came to give us the gift of their language, so we could make better choices and make them more deliberately when we knew what the full consequences of those choices were. Amy Adams' character learns the language and writes a book about it and teaches classes on it to help spread it so more and more people can use that gift
The real sci-fi thing about this movie is that the U.S.A would be the "most peaceful/diplomatic" ones in their approach, in this kind of scenario.
Also one of the best sci fi movies ever made. Most people get lost in the Star Wars Star Trek sci fi action stuff. Its things like this movie though are the heart of what good sci fi is. That's why you notice even Star Wars for all its pew-pew syill has to have deep moments that challenge your mind to expand, and how those effect relationships.
It took me at least three viewings to get it. Am I emtional at end ? I am a wreck each time and also at each reaction of this movie 😭
There are a few questions people should have when it comes to aliens in the real world or space travel. One of my biggest questions growing up watching sci-fi, or as an adult when I got into comic books, was how would we communicate with aliens once we make contact. Deciphering human languages aren't that hard for trained linguists. Not to mention the fact that a lot of human languages are related to other languages. Technically they've all evolved from just a few original languages. But an alien language... well, we're not going to be as lucky as those folks that discovered the Rosetta Stone. There just isn't one for aliens.
Beautiful film making.
I fully believed the child dying was a trauma thing to open the movie with (inciding incident/backstory), but what it turned out to be is so much cooler. (Still sad, but really cool film making language - and it ties the 'no beginning no end, not forward or backwards' together.
You got emotional because it's an emotional ending!
I can't believe I keep forgetting this film exists because I absolutely loved it when I first saw it. Only about 15 minutes into your reaction but I love it. I'ma have to watch your Inception one next 'cause that's my favorite film
best movie of ther last decade
Maybe their visit to Earth and sharing their language keeps us from destroying ourselves so we can help them later
This is a phenomenal movie that is worth watching over & over 🤓
Edit: if you want another fav sci-fi horrorish flick, don't miss Annihilation.
That’s such a good one but good lord it’s creepy!!
@@marybrown6128 sooo creepy
They were there to give humanity a tool to help it survive and for the language (and the ability to understand time the heptapod way) to be disseminated so that we can help when they return in 3000 years.
Awesome reaction, as always 👍👍
Definitely one of my favorite films. I believe there's possibly other intelligent life out there somewhere but they are likely to never reach us. Beautiful reaction to a beautiful movie 💖
40:18 - They can see the future, just as humans who learn their language can. The main implication I get here is that you can only see into your own future, so wouldn't know anything beyond your death, which also implies the heptapods have a lifespan of over 3000 years (or maybe this only applies to the ones who travelled to earth because of relativistic time shift, but then, how would they have known to come here?)
I always say…if aliens landed on earth, I would go right to them. Because, if they are friendly, great! And if they are not, we have already lost / have no chance against their technology.
That’s fair!
Love that film, not everyone did, but I did.
1. You managed to completely forget they can see the future. They know humans will be there for them. 2. They literally said they needed to give us the weapon of time now so we could learn to use it to help them in the future.
You're right, in the moment, I didn't connect that.
@@OGBReacts Silly gal. Love ya ^^
Watching your mind blow up was super entertaining! Lol sorry but it was 🤣 hugs though you looked pretty stressed throughout the whole thing
To your 'Why now?' point: The problem is that we don't know what they need help with - what is going to be their situation. So the writer could pick almost any arbitrary amount of time, as long as it was not too soon for it to seem believable that we'd have developed the capability to assist an alien civilisation.
Remember, we have to have developed the technology to get to them (probably requiring faster than light travel of some sort), *and* the capacity to do whatever it is we need to do to help them, *and* then travel there (which might take quite a long time even with FTLT).
So 3000 years could be explicable.
All hail the magic skinny egg, indeed!
If time is Linear and you tried to change either the past or the future, then there would be Time Paradoxes which would end the universe, but if time is Non-Linear and loops like this movie implies; then instead of the universe ending an alternate universe is then created. In other words, the multiversal theory, which states that if you change either the past or future another universe branches off from our own and creates an entirely new universe, would be correct.