Yes, Arrival is THAT good.

As I'm writing this, the tears on my cheeks are still drying. As an audience member I am not one to generally find appeal in sci-fi, and especially not in "space films", which is exactly what Arrival appears to be in its marketing. I was wrong. Today, my 14 year old brother convinced me to watch it and I am grateful.

Arrival is a series of complex and emotive elements webbed together to create a compelling and enlightening experience, which questions so much about human nature and the foundations of our existence. Its cinematography has something strikingly Kubrickian about it, and is generally beautiful and absorbed naturally by us as an audience. This is not the case for recent products of the sci-fi genre, due to its heavy reliance on overwhelming CGI. The film's skilled and appropriate use of CGI spares the film of its genre's clichés.

The performances and themes demonstrate pure originality. This is not a film about aliens, or an apocalypse, or the future. This is a film about one woman's embracing approach to humanity.

I would highly reccomend this film.