When you watch it again, you'll start crying sooner... Also when you watch again, pay attention to Abbott and its actions, knowing what's going to happen. The subtlety in the choices is stunning.
Abbott is such a hero. He went to Earth knowing full well he was going to die there, but came anyway because his people needed humanity's help 3000 years later.
@@fakecubed This is a perfect example of the 'greater good' - it did sacrificed for it's kind. We humans hate the term 'greater good' because we claim that every life is important, but the movie shows it's not always a case.
Ugh yes this! And Abbott (I might be remembering this wrong) always seemed to be the most curious/warm of the two. That makes ot even more heartbreaking to me
I love the line when she hugs him for the FIRST time where she says she forgot how good it was to be held by him. She remembers a feeling she had never actually had. I just love it.
@@Metaljacket420I think she's able to access past & future times, but she's not experiencing all times at once, or even more than one moment at once, unless she feels a connectivity with a different moment. Experiencing all her life at once would probably overwhelm her present being too much. In other words, there'd be no way to experience the present if your mind is busy living other moments.
I loved your reaction. In the beginning, you might remember when Ian was talking about how Louise said that language is the first "weapon drawn" in a conflict. So, later, when Louise asks "Why are you here?" and they reply with "Offer weapon", it makes a lot more sense.
Yes and it also reminds me of the question asked earlier about the different interpretations for the Sanskrit word for war. "A desire for more cows" vs "an argument". "Tool" vs "Weapon".
When you watch it the second time it's a more cerebral experience because you won't be nervously preparing for jump-scares or alien attacks (which we've been preconditioned to with this genre). The intentional suspense of the initial watching is removed, which allows a more in-depth exploration of the underlying storyline. It's almost like two interleaved movies. Like Interstellar and Ineption, this movie made me think for days after!
It's even more interesting than just knowing the future. She is in every moment of her life at the same time. Remember when Hannah asked her what the word was where both sides get something beneficial? She didn't know, but since Hawkeye said it in the present, she would have known it in the future. But she said she didn't know at first and only told Hannah after Jeremy Renner said it in the present, so she's living all these moments at the same time.
their language is a circle, which alludes to the way they percieve time... not linear in one direction like we do, but in all directions, future, past, present, there is no line. hard to wrap your head around really, things happend, because they will happen and influenced decisions in the moment that were necessary for things to happen... or something like that.
" She is in every moment of her life at the same time." The block universe theory, also known as eternalism, is a theory that suggests the universe is a four-dimensional block of spacetime containing everything that has ever happened. The theory suggests that the passing of time is an illusion, and that everything that has happened, is happening, and will happen is already present in the block universe.
@@Luemm3l I never really found it hard to grasp, nor hard to grasp why she made the decision to still have her daughter after the fact. The notion of being able to experience all times across your life at once is just a smaller portion of the concept of omnipresence, one of the 3 or 4 main characteristics of God.
I love this movie so much. Not only is it really cool in terms of the premise and the science and the cinematography, but it is even better in terms of its message. Life is precious, the bad things in life don't make life not worth it, take every moment you have and hold it dear.
I see her decision to give birth to Hannah despite knowing the consequences as insanely narcissistic. What gives her the right to be so self-centered and disingenuous? Seeing the future makes you more responsible for it, not less. Giving in to "inevitabilities" makes you a callous sociopath, not caring and nurturing.
@@mckrackin5324 No, you're making TONS of assumptions. Nothing in the film says Hannah "will suffer horribly" and "die in agony" -- and even if it did, who are we to say that the 10-15 years of life weren't worth the suffering at its end? Similarly, we know that Ian got angry and broke up with Louise, but we know nothing about his life after that. Maybe later he came to peace with everything and decided his life had been better because Hannah had been in it. Or maybe Hannah touched other peoples' lives in a positive way aside from her parents'? You're assuming a selfish motive for Louise that simply isn't there in the film. Who knows? Maybe, even if Hannah did/does suffer, it guides her doctors to the eventual creation of a cure that prevents that disease from ever again being an issue for anyone? Would Louise's decision be selfish then? I think not.
@@bigdream_dreambig People don't lie in a hospital bed filled with tubes because they feel good. Hannah had no hair as she lie there dying. That means chemotherapy or radiation treatment. Both are torture. I'm not making assumptions. We were shown what was going to happen to Hannah. Louise chose to have this happen to Hannah. She did it on purpose. No different than putting a weapon to her daughter's head and pulling the trigger. It was her CHOICE.
The Heotapods are such good guys- Abbott went there knowing in advance that he'd be killed in the explosion. And of course, the Heotapods knew every human language before they ever arrived- their mission was to teach their language.
This is one of my favorite sci-fi movies. It makes you ask so many hard questions (and that's the root of good sci-fi). If you knew the course of your whole life, what would you do? Was it right or not? It gets into age-old questions on pre-destination and everything.
In case you didn't fully realize it, it wasn't their daughter's sickness that drove Ian away, it was Louise telling him that she knew ahead of time that Hannah would get sick and die, but decided to have her anyway, that made him leave.
I think on your second watch, the movie's premise will get to you even more. Do you walk on the path of joy knowing it leads to tragedy? There is no beginning, there is no end. And there is no spoon. GREAT reaction, Addie. ALWAYS enjoy your videos. Keep up the great work.
@@t0dd000 Good point. Everything dies. Even suns and black holes. Even at the threshold of the end of the universe to nothingness when all particle matter stops moving.
@@harrybirchall3308 I see it differently. Not to say your view is wrong, it being a somewhat poetic work of fiction and all, much of it is open to interpretation. But the focus to me is more on what she gains, not loses. When we grow up, we do tend to lose some of that childlike sense of unlimited wonder, but we are also empowered to be adults, seeing more clearly and directing our own lives instead of being under the care and control of others. While we feel nostalgic about childhood, we would not give up the adult control, we instead try and 'live love laugh' as a child, retaining the best parts of that phase of our lives, while still retaining the best parts of adulthood. The aliens' language is a dangerous tool, because when humans learn it, it changes us. We go from blindly feeling our way along inch by inch through our front yard in the dark, to having a floodlight turned on, seeing the entire thing at once. Does that gain of vision cause us to lose free will? Or does it instead give us more information, in order to make better free will choices? We are not told in the movie whether she is able to alter these outcomes, because she already made many of those choices, her entire life up to The Arrival, when she was 'blind' to that fourth dimension we call time. Certain courses were already 'laid in', difficult, perhaps impossible, to alter. She may find, 'in time' so to speak, she has greater control over 'future' choices, now that they're better informed by a mind altered by the learning of the language, seeing the 'time' of her existence laid out before her not as a linear progression, but as a 3D map would have appeared to her before -- a '4D map', as it were. If so, what better formula, at least in generic terms, to guide that heightened sense of living than 'live love laugh'?
This movie is so amazing, and Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner, especially Amy Adams, are phenomenal. And, I think it’s really heartwarming that she decided to have Hannah even though she knows what the outcome is going to be, regardless of how heartbreaking it would be to have that knowledge.
@@fakecubed but couldn't she have made a different choice knowing the future? like get an abortion before the child is born and have another child in place of that? before the child was conceived it's a bunch of cells. they could have been selective about it. this would eliminate alot of genetic diseases. just knowing they exist you can select for offspring without it.
@@takumi2023 That would be murder. She’s already experienced her entire daughter’s life, and you think she should just kill her baby girl because the story has a sad end? Her life is worthless to you? I hate to break it to you but every kid that is ever born will die one day.
@fakecubed it's not a question of worthless or not but quality of life. If she did choose a different child, a different future would be shown to her. L I'm more on the side of Jermey Renner's character, knowing the future and still choosing that path. I think the difference between our beliefs is whether the future is written vs. a blank canvas. While she has seen the future, it's but one possibility. Is there no chance for a future where the father stays and the child grows up healthy?
The metaphorical lessons gleaned from this film is something that will only be fully understood many many years from now, one of those films that contains levels of insight that only the passage of time can completely comprehend.
One of the most fascinating sci fi dramas ever told, together with Denis Villeneuve's stunning visuals, makes this a phenomenal film and one of my favorites.
the 'Arrival' reveal... it's always wonderful to see the reaction... but not everyone takes away Louise's bravery the way Addie does here. brilliant... wonderful react!
What I love about the gift, is that it implies from her perspective, shes immortal. Since she can preceive any point in her life, and revist / relive it.
I totally knew you would love this movie. Your heart and soul came out. Note the main song is from Max Richter "on nature of daylight". Tugs the soul hard every time...
Ever notice you never see Addie and Amy Adams in the same place at the same time? This is my favorite science fiction film of the last 20 years. It reminds me a lot of "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (1951), to this day one of the most thoughtful and realistic first-contact stories ever filmed, just about as far away from a "bug eyed monster" story as you could imagine.
I had to see this movie like 3 full times over a few years to really put it all together, it's unreal. Also, as a lifelong Trekkie, I fully subscribe to the First Contact idea of making sure before you reveal yourself to an extra-terrestrial species that you should know all you can about them, especially how to communicate.
The ability to "change" the future is a red herring. If time is non linear, all time is happening at once. The future cannot be changed. It is experienced. The only thing Amy's character can do is embrace it.
What if Louise, after learning Heptapod, decides to not have any children? That is a possibility. Time is always in motion. Depending on people's decisions, future events can be changed.
@@Stogie2112 if she decides not to have children, she never would have experienced the visions of the child. It cannot be changed. It happened. At the same moment as the present. There is no choice. Only acceptance.
@@Stogie2112if she was going to not have the baby, then she wouldn't have seen visions of the child in the first place. Once you see the future, you can't change it
@@RushfanDave ....She saw one future - not THE future. Time is non-linear, right? It does not exist on a single straight line. Time contains a near-infinite number of possible realities, depending on the choices we make.
@@Stogie2112 you should look up the definition of non linear time. It is not at all what you describe. Past, present and future are only defined by our perception of linear time. If time is non linear, they don't exist separately...
When I first saw this movie and every time since I always go to how much I appreciated it and the writers for how clever it was. How different it is from any other alien encounter film. In 3000 years in the future humanity helped them, so they return the favor by granting humanity with a gift that will help save us from ourselves, so that we will survive to again help them in the future. Amazing!!!
The use of low and hi sound levels in this were amazing. They filmed in what they call "Dirty Science Fiction" - a non-cleaned up view of this world - a high level of realism. One of my favorite films!
Max Richter’s music when used in movies makes me cry. The song triggers thoughts of Arrival even though they use that particular song in a few more movies.
Love your reaction Addie - how you held it together as well as you did at the end I don't know!: had me in tears! I love Sci-fi that makes you think and keeps you guessing - intelligent Sci-fi, & of course that aliens haven't come to blow us all up this time! It was so perfectly cast, written, scored - everything, this has to be pretty much my favorite Sci-fi film, and I've re-watched this several times to catch everything & follow it 'properly' knowing the twist. I love the alien design being as so incredibly different from Humanoid as possible & the learning process didn't feel 'dumbed down' for the audience - and then after all that, the emotional gut punch at the end just got me! Thing is with Louise seeing the future, she'd already fallen in love with her daughter & experienced the loss too - she knew what was to come, & I understand that being prepared, she'd not want to miss out on the time they would have... but then understand Ians side too.. such a beautiful & thought provoking film in just every way!
Great reaction Addie like always, i love this movie its one of my favourites, and its based on "story of your life," a 1998 short story by Ted Chiang, this movie spent a long time in development hell as it was believed to be unfilmable it took years for a production company to take a chance on it, and it took a few more years on top of that to tweak the script until a studio wanted to fund the shoot. When he saw the finished film (when it finally got made), Chiang really enjoyed it, finding it to be both a great adaptation and a great all-round movie. When casting was underway Amy Adams was Denis Villeneuve’s first choice for the role of Louise. Adams reportedly accepted the part within 24 hours of receiving the script. Other fun facts about it a whole language was created for this movie, During pre-production director Denis Villeneuve and screenwriter Eric Heisserer created an entire language for the movie. Along with their creative team, they put together a “logogram bible” containing more than a hundred different linguistic images. Out of these hundred-plus logograms, a total of 71 actually appear in the finished film. Denis Villeneuve made his screenwriter Eric Heisserer work for weeks on what Shang’s wife’s last words would be. So, Heisserer was pretty peeved when he found out that the words he was forced to rewrite over and over again weren’t even subtitled in the final cut. Heisserer would’ve preferred not to leave the words a mystery to English-speaking audiences and is happy to translate the film’s most crucial line of dialogue for anyone who asks: “In war, there are no winners, only widows.” In order to prepare for the role of a linguistics expert in this movie, Amy Adams consulted with an actual linguistic professor named Jessica Coon, who teaches at McGill University. According to Coon, what the movie gets right about language is its interactive nature, although she contests claims that the filmmakers invented a whole new language for the movie. Keep up the amazing work.
One of my favorite movies. If you are wondering wondering what she says to the Chinese general at the end I believe it is "In war there are no heroes, only widows and orphans". A person who speaks mandarin on RUclips translated it along with the subtext of the conversation.
This is such a brilliant movie. The whole alien thing is just a framework for very deep and beautiful ideas like life in all it's sorrows is still worth living for and beautiful.
Thanks for watching this. Really glad you enjoyed this great movie. I have to watch it again, because I thought that she always had the "gift" of experiencing time non-linearly. I didn't think she was given that ability by the aliens. Like she thought everyone thought that way, so she didn't even think of it - just like people with a perfect auto-biographical memory (scientists only know of a few who exist, but they remember absolutely EVERY detail, conversation, EVERYTHING that happened in their lives - and they are not autistic savants). But, I could be wrong (that's for sure) - plus, it would be great to see this movie again anyway.
I really liked the movie the first time I saw it. But the second time I saw Arrival I absolutely loved it and it became one of my favourite movies of all time.
One of my favorite movies of all time. Something I actually picked up after watching some other reactions (you didn't have the shot here), in the beginning, when Louise is playing with Hannah with her "tickle guns" and Hannah is wearing that outfit that has her riding a horse... There's a quick shot where Louise is in the foreground and Hannah is spinning around out of focus, and she resembles a heptapod at that moment with the legs from the costume. So good.
The real question that hit me a little later is could Louise have done anything different. Do they actually have free will to make a choice? I came away feeling like, at least in the movie, they would not have been able to alter their future. I also wonder what it is that the heptapods will need from humanity in 3k years. I’ve watched numerous reactions to this movie (which is one of my favs) and I always love the moment of realization when Louise asks Costello who the girl is; the first reaction of “wait…what the?” and the subsequent dawning on people that what we thought were flashbacks were flashforwards is so cool. I love how Dennis Villeneuve shot this and handled that aspect in particular. I don’t know of anyone that watched this without knowing the short story it was based on that understood the sequencing from the get go. It’s such a good plot twist.
I came here to make just that point... She can't 'choose' to have the baby because she remembers what the choice was and can do nothing else or her memory would be different in the beginning.
The movie was based on a Nebula award winning short story by Ted Chiang, _Story of Your Life_ which explains more and is more powerful and wonderful than the movie. In the story, you can't change the future, there is no free will. The military plot, with her phoning the Chinese general, is not in the story. Instead of changing the future, Louise is changed. Learning the heptapods' language allows you to see the future, but also transforms you philosophically, so you lose the desire to change the future. Louise comprehends that the path of our lives maximizes some mysterious quality in the universe; joy, or transcendence, and accepts and welcomes all that is to come, even the death of her child, the sweet and the bitter.
Based on how the movie portrays it, I see Louise as experiencing every moment in time simultaneously once she learns the heptapod language, so she can't change the future because there is no such thing anymore.
Other then above recommendations, read Dune, Dune Messiah and Children of Dune. It tackles that exeact problem - "To know the future absolutely it to be trapped into that future absolutely. It collapses time. Present becomes future.". To a large extent, it's a story of a future-seer that tries to escape that vision, change the events, but can't.
I really love this movie. And I guessed the ending during Louise and Ian's "singles" conversation, because in her "memories" she always wears a wedding ring.
One of my all-time favorite sci-fi films, and the start of a trifecta of amazing sci-fi films by Denis Villeneuve: Arrival, Blade Runner 2049, and Dune: Part 1, which from everything I'm hearing will be Denis' grand slam when Dune: Part 2 comes out in March. Great reaction to a great film.
Finally after 53 reaction channels I find someone who recognizes a canary in a cage. Literally so many people think it’s food for the aliens or meant to scare the aliens 😂
A lot of SiFi writers love time loop stories because they don't have to explain the false claim that you can change the present or future by going into the past and changing events that had already taken place. But in this case the story doesn't have any irreconcilable irrationalities to explain away because it takes place in the present to change future events. But this story plays out in such a way you're lead to believe Hanna had already been born to convince you this was another "past events need to change present or future events" type of paradox, which it isn't, so the writer doesn't have to deal with those unexplainable paradoxes.
There is a name worth memorizing: Denis Villeneuve. He directed this movie. And Dune. And Blade Runner 2049. And Sicario. And Prisioners. And Enemy. And Polytechnique. His film career is a wonder, made of nothing but great movies. I didnt named Incendiaries because i havent watch it yet but i have heard nothing but great things about it.
Enjoyed the reaction! I get a kick out of seeing how much people enjoy this great movie. This is actually one of the few movies where I guessed the twist since the concept of time (and the idea about how our spacetime may all already exist and be viewable from beginning to end from a higher dimension) is a fascination of mine.
Something I think helps people understand why she still chose to have Hannah is that she isn't really seeing the future, it's like memories of the future if that makes sense. They're blurry snippets accompanied more with the emotion you feel through them. How can she not choose to have her daughter, when she has gained the love of having her child and the moments she will share with her? She received a gift and that is a second time to cherish the time with Hannah.
Addie I loved your reaction. Arrival is one of my favorite movies. Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner were the perfect actors for this movie. And I absolutely love Forest Whitaker! The movie is amazing. Thank you.
The idea is that she voluntarily chooses to go through what is arguably the most painful thing a human being can experience (your child dying), knowing perfectly well all that it entails, because her love for her child and the time they had together, both happy and painful, is more meaningful to her than anything else.
They don't touch on this topic in the film btw, but it is also interesting what the concept of being able to perceive time this way (what being able to "remember" your future) implies about determinism: if you can remember something that hasn't happened yet, does that mean that the future is unchangeable, predetermined? Consider that if the future is not in fact set in stone, so to speak, then that would mean that there are many possible futures, some more likely than others. How likely one possible future is at any given time would depend on the current circumstances, which change all the time. In other words, as the present changes, the most likely future scenario would change with it, and it turn your "memories" of the future would change as well. Not only that, but also the very fact that you can "remember" the most likely future at any given time would constantly affect your decision making, which would also alter your future. It is an interesting thought experiment.
Oh Addie. There will be tears. Masterclass Canadian director Denis Villeneuve strikes again. I loved this since I read the short story, and couldn't believe a movie could be made. I was wrong.
Denis Villeneuve is apparently working on a film adaptation of the Arthur C. Clarke book Rendezvous with Rama. I can't think of a better director for that, after Arrival and Dune. Kubrick might have been able to do it but he's not with us anymore.
The story about Kangaroo meaning "I don't know" or "I don't understand" was an old tale that many used to believe. I thought it was true when I was young.
The words she spoke to General Shang were, "In war, there are no winners, only widows."
Only orphans and widows.
I understood it as "War does not create heroes, it will only leave behind orphans, and widows"
She spoke for like 2 minutes lol…
When you watch it again, you'll start crying sooner...
Also when you watch again, pay attention to Abbott and its actions, knowing what's going to happen. The subtlety in the choices is stunning.
Abbott is such a hero. He went to Earth knowing full well he was going to die there, but came anyway because his people needed humanity's help 3000 years later.
@@fakecubed This is a perfect example of the 'greater good' - it did sacrificed for it's kind. We humans hate the term 'greater good' because we claim that every life is important, but the movie shows it's not always a case.
Ugh yes this! And Abbott (I might be remembering this wrong) always seemed to be the most curious/warm of the two. That makes ot even more heartbreaking to me
By the end, she doesn't just know the future, she remembers the future.
I love the line when she hugs him for the FIRST time where she says she forgot how good it was to be held by him. She remembers a feeling she had never actually had. I just love it.
Remembering... and PREmembering.
I don't think it's as simple as remembering the future, by the end she exists in the future, past, and present all at once.
@@Metaljacket420I think she's able to access past & future times, but she's not experiencing all times at once, or even more than one moment at once, unless she feels a connectivity with a different moment. Experiencing all her life at once would probably overwhelm her present being too much. In other words, there'd be no way to experience the present if your mind is busy living other moments.
@deepermind4884 being able to perceive time that way without being overwhelmed was probably part of the gift, in my head at least
The defensive "Karate Hands" whenever something slightly spooky might be happening never fails to make me smile :)
Me too. She's definitely gonna do so when she watches Sicario (2015). #SicarioForAddieCounts
Yeah, I wonder what color belt she has in Reacter Karate? At least a blue, I'm guessing.
#BlueBeltForAddieCounts
Its more a "Fight or Fight" response! 😺Addie!!! 😺 Moving Friendly Trees! Just like Treebeard! Yeah! I wanted to call them Ren & Stimpy!!!
I think it's Addie's trademark!
When she embraced him for the first time and said “I forgot how good it was to be held by you”.
I loved your reaction. In the beginning, you might remember when Ian was talking about how Louise said that language is the first "weapon drawn" in a conflict. So, later, when Louise asks "Why are you here?" and they reply with "Offer weapon", it makes a lot more sense.
Yes and it also reminds me of the question asked earlier about the different interpretations for the Sanskrit word for war. "A desire for more cows" vs "an argument". "Tool" vs "Weapon".
I like when movies give you rewards on rewatch, like realizing the movie had already given you the keys to understand the aliens' message.
'I used to think this was the beginning of your story.' I love how the movie gives a hint of the plot in the first line. 😁
Yes, "Addie uses weapon." Beautiful reaction. Thank you.
When you watch it the second time it's a more cerebral experience because you won't be nervously preparing for jump-scares or alien attacks (which we've been preconditioned to with this genre). The intentional suspense of the initial watching is removed, which allows a more in-depth exploration of the underlying storyline. It's almost like two interleaved movies. Like Interstellar and Ineption, this movie made me think for days after!
It's even more interesting than just knowing the future. She is in every moment of her life at the same time. Remember when Hannah asked her what the word was where both sides get something beneficial? She didn't know, but since Hawkeye said it in the present, she would have known it in the future. But she said she didn't know at first and only told Hannah after Jeremy Renner said it in the present, so she's living all these moments at the same time.
their language is a circle, which alludes to the way they percieve time... not linear in one direction like we do, but in all directions, future, past, present, there is no line. hard to wrap your head around really, things happend, because they will happen and influenced decisions in the moment that were necessary for things to happen... or something like that.
@@Luemm3l It's simultaneously instantaneous and infinite. You're right: tough to wrap your brain around.
As someone used to say, "What is supposed to happen will happen because it's already happened"
" She is in every moment of her life at the same time."
The block universe theory, also known as eternalism, is a theory that suggests the universe is a four-dimensional block of spacetime containing everything that has ever happened. The theory suggests that the passing of time is an illusion, and that everything that has happened, is happening, and will happen is already present in the block universe.
@@Luemm3l I never really found it hard to grasp, nor hard to grasp why she made the decision to still have her daughter after the fact. The notion of being able to experience all times across your life at once is just a smaller portion of the concept of omnipresence, one of the 3 or 4 main characteristics of God.
I love this movie so much. Not only is it really cool in terms of the premise and the science and the cinematography, but it is even better in terms of its message. Life is precious, the bad things in life don't make life not worth it, take every moment you have and hold it dear.
I see her decision to give birth to Hannah despite knowing the consequences as insanely narcissistic. What gives her the right to be so self-centered and disingenuous? Seeing the future makes you more responsible for it, not less. Giving in to "inevitabilities" makes you a callous sociopath, not caring and nurturing.
@@willcool713 You're making no sense. It's not any more narcissistic than the decision to have a child ever is.
@@mckrackin5324 No, you're making TONS of assumptions. Nothing in the film says Hannah "will suffer horribly" and "die in agony" -- and even if it did, who are we to say that the 10-15 years of life weren't worth the suffering at its end? Similarly, we know that Ian got angry and broke up with Louise, but we know nothing about his life after that. Maybe later he came to peace with everything and decided his life had been better because Hannah had been in it. Or maybe Hannah touched other peoples' lives in a positive way aside from her parents'?
You're assuming a selfish motive for Louise that simply isn't there in the film. Who knows? Maybe, even if Hannah did/does suffer, it guides her doctors to the eventual creation of a cure that prevents that disease from ever again being an issue for anyone? Would Louise's decision be selfish then? I think not.
I think most people would rather get to live even if it ends in agony rather than not live at all@@mckrackin5324
@@bigdream_dreambig People don't lie in a hospital bed filled with tubes because they feel good. Hannah had no hair as she lie there dying. That means chemotherapy or radiation treatment. Both are torture. I'm not making assumptions. We were shown what was going to happen to Hannah. Louise chose to have this happen to Hannah. She did it on purpose. No different than putting a weapon to her daughter's head and pulling the trigger. It was her CHOICE.
The Heotapods are such good guys- Abbott went there knowing in advance that he'd be killed in the explosion.
And of course, the Heotapods knew every human language before they ever arrived- their mission was to teach their language.
You're so right bro 👌👍
This is one of my favorite sci-fi movies. It makes you ask so many hard questions (and that's the root of good sci-fi). If you knew the course of your whole life, what would you do? Was it right or not? It gets into age-old questions on pre-destination and everything.
In case you didn't fully realize it, it wasn't their daughter's sickness that drove Ian away, it was Louise telling him that she knew ahead of time that Hannah would get sick and die, but decided to have her anyway, that made him leave.
The first time I watched this the ending had me in tears. Every subsequent time it hits me in the feels about ten times throughout.
I think on your second watch, the movie's premise will get to you even more. Do you walk on the path of joy knowing it leads to tragedy? There is no beginning, there is no end. And there is no spoon.
GREAT reaction, Addie. ALWAYS enjoy your videos. Keep up the great work.
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And that every parent knows they are giving birth to something that dies.
@@t0dd000 Good point. Everything dies. Even suns and black holes. Even at the threshold of the end of the universe to nothingness when all particle matter stops moving.
@@harrybirchall3308 I see it differently. Not to say your view is wrong, it being a somewhat poetic work of fiction and all, much of it is open to interpretation. But the focus to me is more on what she gains, not loses. When we grow up, we do tend to lose some of that childlike sense of unlimited wonder, but we are also empowered to be adults, seeing more clearly and directing our own lives instead of being under the care and control of others. While we feel nostalgic about childhood, we would not give up the adult control, we instead try and 'live love laugh' as a child, retaining the best parts of that phase of our lives, while still retaining the best parts of adulthood.
The aliens' language is a dangerous tool, because when humans learn it, it changes us. We go from blindly feeling our way along inch by inch through our front yard in the dark, to having a floodlight turned on, seeing the entire thing at once. Does that gain of vision cause us to lose free will? Or does it instead give us more information, in order to make better free will choices?
We are not told in the movie whether she is able to alter these outcomes, because she already made many of those choices, her entire life up to The Arrival, when she was 'blind' to that fourth dimension we call time. Certain courses were already 'laid in', difficult, perhaps impossible, to alter. She may find, 'in time' so to speak, she has greater control over 'future' choices, now that they're better informed by a mind altered by the learning of the language, seeing the 'time' of her existence laid out before her not as a linear progression, but as a 3D map would have appeared to her before -- a '4D map', as it were. If so, what better formula, at least in generic terms, to guide that heightened sense of living than 'live love laugh'?
4:20 "language [...] is the first weapon drawn in a conflict."
i did NOT notice that connection until now :D
one of my favorite movies of all time. still dont understand how amy adams didn't get an oscar nod for this atleast. she was phenomenal.
I love in the reactions for this movie seeing people's faces when she says "I don't understand. Who is this child?" Gives me goosebumps everytime.
Denis Villeneuve is a genius! Watch ALL his movies! 🥰
This movie is a masterclass in misdirection, yet without being manipulative. I love it.
I saw this movie 12 years ago, imagine my surprise when it was made a few years later 🤷🏻♂️
This movie is so amazing, and Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner, especially Amy Adams, are phenomenal. And, I think it’s really heartwarming that she decided to have Hannah even though she knows what the outcome is going to be, regardless of how heartbreaking it would be to have that knowledge.
Better to have loved and lost.
@@fakecubed but couldn't she have made a different choice knowing the future? like get an abortion before the child is born and have another child in place of that? before the child was conceived it's a bunch of cells. they could have been selective about it. this would eliminate alot of genetic diseases. just knowing they exist you can select for offspring without it.
@@takumi2023 That would be murder. She’s already experienced her entire daughter’s life, and you think she should just kill her baby girl because the story has a sad end? Her life is worthless to you? I hate to break it to you but every kid that is ever born will die one day.
@fakecubed it's not a question of worthless or not but quality of life. If she did choose a different child, a different future would be shown to her. L I'm more on the side of Jermey Renner's character, knowing the future and still choosing that path.
I think the difference between our beliefs is whether the future is written vs. a blank canvas. While she has seen the future, it's but one possibility. Is there no chance for a future where the father stays and the child grows up healthy?
@@takumi2023 Who ever said she didn’t have a happy life? That’s wishful thinking on your part to justify snuffing her out.
The metaphorical lessons gleaned from this film is something that will only be fully understood many many years from now, one of those films that contains levels of insight that only the passage of time can completely comprehend.
One of the most fascinating sci fi dramas ever told, together with Denis Villeneuve's stunning visuals, makes this a phenomenal film and one of my favorites.
the 'Arrival' reveal... it's always wonderful to see the reaction... but not everyone takes away Louise's bravery the way Addie does here.
brilliant... wonderful react!
Martin Luther said that even if he knew with certainty that the world would end tomorrow, he would still plant his apple tree.
What I love about the gift, is that it implies from her perspective, shes immortal. Since she can preceive any point in her life, and revist / relive it.
I love everything about this lovely movie. It's kinda like a "loveletter" to science.
agreed! ♥
I’m a 57 year old man. I cry multiple times whenever I watch this movie. ❤️😓
I totally knew you would love this movie. Your heart and soul came out. Note the main song is from Max Richter "on nature of daylight". Tugs the soul hard every time...
"Addie has weapon" was... chef's kiss.
Ever notice you never see Addie and Amy Adams in the same place at the same time?
This is my favorite science fiction film of the last 20 years. It reminds me a lot of "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (1951), to this day one of the most thoughtful and realistic first-contact stories ever filmed, just about as far away from a "bug eyed monster" story as you could imagine.
Ha ha. Nice one.
🤔
LOL😂
Hey! You said that not me 😅
I saw them both at Target last month
When you understand the whole story, and then watch it again.
All the confusion of the first time is gone, and you get wrapped up in the emotions.
The last words that she tell the Chinese general is "In war there are no winners, only widows".
I had to see this movie like 3 full times over a few years to really put it all together, it's unreal.
Also, as a lifelong Trekkie, I fully subscribe to the First Contact idea of making sure before you reveal yourself to an extra-terrestrial species that you should know all you can about them, especially how to communicate.
An absolutely amazing movie. I love approaching an alien visitation from a linguistic point. Absolutely fascinating - and heart breaking.
The ability to "change" the future is a red herring. If time is non linear, all time is happening at once. The future cannot be changed. It is experienced. The only thing Amy's character can do is embrace it.
What if Louise, after learning Heptapod, decides to not have any children? That is a possibility.
Time is always in motion. Depending on people's decisions, future events can be changed.
@@Stogie2112 if she decides not to have children, she never would have experienced the visions of the child. It cannot be changed. It happened. At the same moment as the present. There is no choice. Only acceptance.
@@Stogie2112if she was going to not have the baby, then she wouldn't have seen visions of the child in the first place. Once you see the future, you can't change it
@@RushfanDave ....She saw one future - not THE future. Time is non-linear, right? It does not exist on a single straight line. Time contains a near-infinite number of possible realities, depending on the choices we make.
@@Stogie2112 you should look up the definition of non linear time. It is not at all what you describe.
Past, present and future are only defined by our perception of linear time. If time is non linear, they don't exist separately...
When I first saw this movie and every time since I always go to how much I appreciated it and the writers for how clever it was. How different it is from any other alien encounter film. In 3000 years in the future humanity helped them, so they return the favor by granting humanity with a gift that will help save us from ourselves, so that we will survive to again help them in the future. Amazing!!!
I saw this movie twice at the cinema. The second time to see it again and to see friends that went with us get their minds blown. 😁
This movie is SO rewatchable, but even moreso to see someone else watch it for the first time
I am practically "evangelical" about this movie in that way - and I always look forward to the next RUclips reaction !
Man I'd kill to see this in theaters
So many movies I couldn't see but want to so bad
This and Interstellar are big ones
4:58 here I am thinking this shot is BEAUTIFUL...
Addie: "Oh, that's massive."
This movie is INCREDIBLE, one of my all time favourites.
The use of low and hi sound levels in this were amazing. They filmed in what they call "Dirty Science Fiction" - a non-cleaned up view of this world - a high level of realism. One of my favorite films!
Max Richter’s music when used in movies makes me cry. The song triggers thoughts of Arrival even though they use that particular song in a few more movies.
1:33 OH that's where I live, less than an hour away from Portugal.
The sacrifice she makes knowing her daughter will die is so heartbreaking. Every moment of her life knowing the pain and living in it. I cried again.
Love your reaction Addie - how you held it together as well as you did at the end I don't know!: had me in tears!
I love Sci-fi that makes you think and keeps you guessing - intelligent Sci-fi, & of course that aliens haven't come to blow us all up this time!
It was so perfectly cast, written, scored - everything, this has to be pretty much my favorite Sci-fi film, and I've re-watched this several times to catch everything & follow it 'properly' knowing the twist.
I love the alien design being as so incredibly different from Humanoid as possible & the learning process didn't feel 'dumbed down' for the audience - and then after all that, the emotional gut punch at the end just got me!
Thing is with Louise seeing the future, she'd already fallen in love with her daughter & experienced the loss too - she knew what was to come, & I understand that being prepared, she'd not want to miss out on the time they would have... but then understand Ians side too.. such a beautiful & thought provoking film in just every way!
“Watching it again would kind of help filling some caps”
No, Addie: use the weapon. You have already seen it. *gestures the Jedi mind trick*
😂
Great reaction Addie like always, i love this movie its one of my favourites, and its based on "story of your life," a 1998 short story by Ted Chiang, this movie spent a long time in development hell as it was believed to be unfilmable it took years for a production company to take a chance on it, and it took a few more years on top of that to tweak the script until a studio wanted to fund the shoot. When he saw the finished film (when it finally got made), Chiang really enjoyed it, finding it to be both a great adaptation and a great all-round movie. When casting was underway Amy Adams was Denis Villeneuve’s first choice for the role of Louise. Adams reportedly accepted the part within 24 hours of receiving the script. Other fun facts about it a whole language was created for this movie, During pre-production director Denis Villeneuve and screenwriter Eric Heisserer created an entire language for the movie. Along with their creative team, they put together a “logogram bible” containing more than a hundred different linguistic images. Out of these hundred-plus logograms, a total of 71 actually appear in the finished film. Denis Villeneuve made his screenwriter Eric Heisserer work for weeks on what Shang’s wife’s last words would be. So, Heisserer was pretty peeved when he found out that the words he was forced to rewrite over and over again weren’t even subtitled in the final cut. Heisserer would’ve preferred not to leave the words a mystery to English-speaking audiences and is happy to translate the film’s most crucial line of dialogue for anyone who asks: “In war, there are no winners, only widows.” In order to prepare for the role of a linguistics expert in this movie, Amy Adams consulted with an actual linguistic professor named Jessica Coon, who teaches at McGill University. According to Coon, what the movie gets right about language is its interactive nature, although she contests claims that the filmmakers invented a whole new language for the movie. Keep up the amazing work.
One of my favorite movies. If you are wondering wondering what she says to the Chinese general at the end I believe it is "In war there are no heroes, only widows and orphans". A person who speaks mandarin on RUclips translated it along with the subtext of the conversation.
This is such a brilliant movie. The whole alien thing is just a framework for very deep and beautiful ideas like life in all it's sorrows is still worth living for and beautiful.
My favorite movie of all time. It somehow gets better every time I watch it. Denis Villeneuve is a sci-fi Jedi master.
Thanks for watching this. Really glad you enjoyed this great movie. I have to watch it again, because I thought that she always had the "gift" of experiencing time non-linearly. I didn't think she was given that ability by the aliens. Like she thought everyone thought that way, so she didn't even think of it - just like people with a perfect auto-biographical memory (scientists only know of a few who exist, but they remember absolutely EVERY detail, conversation, EVERYTHING that happened in their lives - and they are not autistic savants). But, I could be wrong (that's for sure) - plus, it would be great to see this movie again anyway.
"Tell us what she did so we know what to do" 👏... then you suddenly start predicting things correctly. 😄
Dennis Villenuve is a brilliant director.
his names not dennis
@@paulelroy6650 I'm sorry Denis. Big fricken whoop.
I really liked the movie the first time I saw it. But the second time I saw Arrival I absolutely loved it and it became one of my favourite movies of all time.
A truly sophisticated and delicate movie at the same time, I find it very intelligent, I liked it very much.
Oh, I'm so glad to see you reacting to this one -- it's one of my all-time favorites. Beautiful, bittersweet film.
One of my favorite movies of all time. Something I actually picked up after watching some other reactions (you didn't have the shot here), in the beginning, when Louise is playing with Hannah with her "tickle guns" and Hannah is wearing that outfit that has her riding a horse... There's a quick shot where Louise is in the foreground and Hannah is spinning around out of focus, and she resembles a heptapod at that moment with the legs from the costume.
So good.
Saw this and Annihilation on the same night. Oh what a night. Own both 4k blu-rays forever now! Wish we got more movies like this.
The real question that hit me a little later is could Louise have done anything different. Do they actually have free will to make a choice? I came away feeling like, at least in the movie, they would not have been able to alter their future. I also wonder what it is that the heptapods will need from humanity in 3k years.
I’ve watched numerous reactions to this movie (which is one of my favs) and I always love the moment of realization when Louise asks Costello who the girl is; the first reaction of “wait…what the?” and the subsequent dawning on people that what we thought were flashbacks were flashforwards is so cool. I love how Dennis Villeneuve shot this and handled that aspect in particular. I don’t know of anyone that watched this without knowing the short story it was based on that understood the sequencing from the get go. It’s such a good plot twist.
I highly recommend the short story it's based on, Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang
I came here to make just that point... She can't 'choose' to have the baby because she remembers what the choice was and can do nothing else or her memory would be different in the beginning.
The movie was based on a Nebula award winning short story by Ted Chiang, _Story of Your Life_ which explains more and is more powerful and wonderful than the movie. In the story, you can't change the future, there is no free will. The military plot, with her phoning the Chinese general, is not in the story. Instead of changing the future, Louise is changed. Learning the heptapods' language allows you to see the future, but also transforms you philosophically, so you lose the desire to change the future. Louise comprehends that the path of our lives maximizes some mysterious quality in the universe; joy, or transcendence, and accepts and welcomes all that is to come, even the death of her child, the sweet and the bitter.
Based on how the movie portrays it, I see Louise as experiencing every moment in time simultaneously once she learns the heptapod language, so she can't change the future because there is no such thing anymore.
Other then above recommendations, read Dune, Dune Messiah and Children of Dune. It tackles that exeact problem - "To know the future absolutely it to be trapped into that future absolutely. It collapses time. Present becomes future.". To a large extent, it's a story of a future-seer that tries to escape that vision, change the events, but can't.
I really love this movie.
And I guessed the ending during Louise and Ian's "singles" conversation, because in her "memories" she always wears a wedding ring.
This is my top10 sci fi movie. So beautiful. The music is gorgeous
This is one of my favorite movies of all time. The short story it’s based on is great, too.
One of my all-time favorite sci-fi films, and the start of a trifecta of amazing sci-fi films by Denis Villeneuve: Arrival, Blade Runner 2049, and Dune: Part 1, which from everything I'm hearing will be Denis' grand slam when Dune: Part 2 comes out in March. Great reaction to a great film.
Finally after 53 reaction channels I find someone who recognizes a canary in a cage. Literally so many people think it’s food for the aliens or meant to scare the aliens 😂
Addie is the cutest XD They're moving, friendly trees!
Best sci-fi movie of the 2010s. Ted Chiang, the author of the short story, is a genius.
A lot of SiFi writers love time loop stories because they don't have to explain the false claim that you can change the present or future by going into the past and changing events that had already taken place. But in this case the story doesn't have any irreconcilable irrationalities to explain away because it takes place in the present to change future events. But this story plays out in such a way you're lead to believe Hanna had already been born to convince you this was another "past events need to change present or future events" type of paradox, which it isn't, so the writer doesn't have to deal with those unexplainable paradoxes.
Oh, Lord! This is one of my favorite movies of all time. Crushingly, beautiful, heartbreaking and hopeful at the same time ♥
There is a name worth memorizing: Denis Villeneuve. He directed this movie. And Dune. And Blade Runner 2049. And Sicario. And Prisioners. And Enemy. And Polytechnique. His film career is a wonder, made of nothing but great movies. I didnt named Incendiaries because i havent watch it yet but i have heard nothing but great things about it.
I literally searched your channel for this movie reaction two days ago!
Thanks ❤
"Do you know what my coffee is missing every morning?" I thought sure the next line was going to be "Jeremy Renner." 🤣
Nice reaction, Addie. Not only is this a great sci fi movie to watch, but it is also great to re-watch with new found perspective.
the sounds in this movie are sooo dang good haha
IMO one of the best sci-fi films of the modern day, and definitely rewatchable. Glad you enjoyed the movie
26:27 was awesome, and cute edit too haha!
yes!! I cant wati! SUPER underrated..one of my favs! I think youll LOVE it
"My brain is mush" , after being on point the whole movie! Hahah.
It's a brilliant move amazingly written.
29:04 correct.
I do not, ever, like time"travel" as a story. and this mush is why.
I'm not saying I don't understand, I am saying I don't want to.
They hint about it being the future at the start, she even says "this is the end, but I'm not sure I believe in beginnings and endings anymore"
Enjoyed the reaction! I get a kick out of seeing how much people enjoy this great movie.
This is actually one of the few movies where I guessed the twist since the concept of time (and the idea about how our spacetime may all already exist and be viewable from beginning to end from a higher dimension) is a fascination of mine.
It's funny--knowing a twist is coming, or guessing it beforehand, does not diminish it if it's done well.
One of the best movies ever: "hits" the head as hard as it "hits" the heart!
Something I think helps people understand why she still chose to have Hannah is that she isn't really seeing the future, it's like memories of the future if that makes sense. They're blurry snippets accompanied more with the emotion you feel through them. How can she not choose to have her daughter, when she has gained the love of having her child and the moments she will share with her? She received a gift and that is a second time to cherish the time with Hannah.
Addie I loved your reaction. Arrival is one of my favorite movies. Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner were the perfect actors for this movie. And I absolutely love Forest Whitaker! The movie is amazing. Thank you.
Good one, Addie! Love this movie. So good. Thanks for sharing it. 🙂
Amy Adams should have won the Oscar for this performance
The alien sound in this movie is amazing.
A really cool movie that makes you think. I love your reaction and comments, you really get into the movie.
Brilliant editing. Without question, Addie has weapon. Great reaction for an amazing movie.
I love your sweater so much Addie!!
This is one of those few perfect movies that I think has an important message for humanity
One of Denis Villeneuve's best movies and one of my favorites.
The idea is that she voluntarily chooses to go through what is arguably the most painful thing a human being can experience (your child dying), knowing perfectly well all that it entails, because her love for her child and the time they had together, both happy and painful, is more meaningful to her than anything else.
They don't touch on this topic in the film btw, but it is also interesting what the concept of being able to perceive time this way (what being able to "remember" your future) implies about determinism: if you can remember something that hasn't happened yet, does that mean that the future is unchangeable, predetermined?
Consider that if the future is not in fact set in stone, so to speak, then that would mean that there are many possible futures, some more likely than others. How likely one possible future is at any given time would depend on the current circumstances, which change all the time. In other words, as the present changes, the most likely future scenario would change with it, and it turn your "memories" of the future would change as well. Not only that, but also the very fact that you can "remember" the most likely future at any given time would constantly affect your decision making, which would also alter your future.
It is an interesting thought experiment.
You are presuming there is such a thing as choice.
Oh Addie. There will be tears. Masterclass Canadian director Denis Villeneuve strikes again. I loved this since I read the short story, and couldn't believe a movie could be made. I was wrong.
Denis Villeneuve is apparently working on a film adaptation of the Arthur C. Clarke book Rendezvous with Rama. I can't think of a better director for that, after Arrival and Dune. Kubrick might have been able to do it but he's not with us anymore.
Will he be true to the novel, or will he butcher it like he did with Dune?
@@Stogie2112 Pretty odd statement.
Love this movie! The score makes me cry and the context is perfect❤
Addie videos are the best. Hi Addie 👋 Edit: 3:56 - there they are. Addie karate chops when bracing to be scared. 😂
I bet she's gonna do some more karate chops when she watches Sicario (2015), also directed by Denis Villeneuve. #SicarioForAddieCounts
@alextan1478 great movie
The story about Kangaroo meaning "I don't know" or "I don't understand" was an old tale that many used to believe. I thought it was true when I was young.
Wonderful Reaction. I've seen this movie many times and I am always moved by the ending. A great film.