Timeless: An Attempted Spoiler-free Review of Arrival

I’m not a fan of current movie reviews. I detest spoilers, especially when it comes to new movies. When I saw the movie Arrival, however, I knew I had to review it. So here goes. An attempted spoiler-free review of this new film.

Hiding under my rock that I call Netflix, I hadn’t seen or heard anything about this movie. (What is a “commercial,” anyway?) Agreeing only to accompany some friends to see a movie about aliens, I didn’t expect much. For the first half hour, the movie was as I predicted – a crazy sci-fi flick, heavy on the suspension of disbelief.

But after the first half hour, the movie took a turn I didn’t expect. The alien invasion story was the conduit to deliver a message about timelessness and the acceptance of all of life – both its joyous parts and its painful ones.

If time were not an issue, and one knew the beginning, middle, and end of every venture in life, would the moments of heartbreak keep us from all experiences? Avoidance of suffering is totally benign and rational; so if we know the suffering lying ahead in our path, should that knowledge keep us from journeying altogether, foregoing all opportunities of joy and growth?

Do I sound like a stoned freshman in his first philosophy class yet?

Faced with a progressive and life-shortening disorder, acknowledging the inevitable end of a journey and choosing to live in spite of it is a powerful theme that resonates with me. Seeing life, full of both struggles and victories, as ultimately worth living is rarely spoken. But by God, it’s a necessary message.

Tongue-in-cheek maybe, but bear with me on this: the Church season we are in is Advent, when we prepare for the coming of Christ, both in a merry way and in an apocalyptic way, and a prominent figure in this is Mary. Mary’s “yes” to God, despite the glory of bearing God into the world, would be fraught with suffering. I like to think she considered the sorrow this would bring to her when she “pondered all this in her heart” (Luke 2:19).

Like Mary, and like Amy Adams in this movie, my hope is that we all venture towards the future, even though we may ponder the hardships that may bring. And may fear of what’s to come never prevent us from accepting the challenge of living, and living fully.

At the end of this movie, I made my friends laugh. As soon as the credits came up, I said loudly, with tears in my eyes, “THAT was great.”

I recommend it. Go see this movie.

I promise I’m not a stoned freshman in philosophy class.