Arrival

Actors: Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner and Forest Whitaker

Rating: 9 out of 10, Adams stars as a world renowned linguist charged with opening up communication channels with some recently arrived extra-terrestrials. This is one of the most intelligent and thought provoking films I’ve seen in a long time. You shouldn’t go in expecting the usual sci fi action, this is very cerebral as it theorizes what humanity’s reaction would be to the arrival of twelve massive alien aircraft around the world. There’s a poorly disguised but ultimately fulfilling twist which raises questions in the viewers’ mind as what you would do in the same situation. Despite its somewhat dour tone, this is Denis Villenueve after all, the message is surprisingly optimistic. One of the best movies of the year and certainly the smartest.

MVP: Adams as the sexiest nerd in a long time