Amy Adams revealed her initial reaction to the surprising ending ofArrival. The 2016 science fiction movie isdirected by Denis Villeneuveand has an impressive score of 94% on Rotten Tomatoes. The story follows Linguistics professor Louise Banks, who communicates with mysterious aliens who touch down on Earth. In doing so, she prevents a global war. In addition to Adams, the cast ofArrivalincludes Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker, and Michael Stuhlbarg.
In an interview withVanity Fair, Adams discussed howshe appreciated that the focus ofArrival’sstory was on motherhood, rather than the more science fiction elements of the film. She also revealed her reaction to the film’s ending and explained how reading the end of the script immediately changed how she viewed her character. Read Adams' full comments below:
He’s sort of explaining to me what’s going on and who my daughter is. First off, I was devastated, and it made me look at the story so differently. And then I immediately went back and read it again, kind of in the same way that I was talking about, like wanting people to see it again with a new perspective, and saw the whole character in a different perspective. I had thought of her as a person in mourning, and so I worked really hard to build up her backstory and her future story.
Arrival’s Ending Completely Changed How People Viewed The Rest Of The Movie
Arrival’s Ending Recontextualizes The Timeline Of The Movie
At the beginning ofArrival, viewers are shown visions of Louise’s daughter, which they automatically assume to be memories. Therefore, throughout the course of the movie, audiences are tricked into believing that Louise is a grieving mother who lost her daughter. However, thetwist ending ofArrivalreveals that these visions of her daughter are actually from the future. By the end of the film,Louise is able to view time non-linearly, just as the aliens she communicates with throughout the film do.
After communicating with the aliens inArrival, Louise loses all concepts of past, present, and future.
This surprising ending completely recontextualizes the movie. After communicating with thealiens inArrival, Louise loses all concepts of past, present, and future. Therefore,all the events inArrivalare technically happening all at once. This makesArrivalone of the most unique science fiction films of the last decade, and one of Villeneuve’s best movies.
Our Take On Amy Adams' Comments About Arrival’s Ending
Arrival’s Ending Is Very Emotional
Compared to other science fiction films,Arrivalis very grounded. The aliens are presented as menacing beings which could invade Earth, but they are actually only trying to help Louise and guide humankind to avoid tragic future events, such as wars. More so than the alien invasion, its story is more focused on how we view time and Louise’s relationship with her daughter.Arrival’sending is very touching, since even though Louise’s daughter does eventually pass away, she can always technically still be with her since she views the past, present, and future all at the same time.
Arrival
Cast
Arrival is a science fiction film centered on linguist Louise Banks, who is recruited by the military after alien spacecraft land across the globe. Tasked with determining the extraterrestrials' intentions, she embarks on a critical mission to decipher their complex language, exploring themes of communication and time.
