In the bright light of something shiny and new, it’s easy to declare that thing an outlier: To smile and point and proclaim that here, at last, is a thing that makes everything that follows a little bit different. It’s undoubtedly just a bit too soon to declare Arrival a science-fiction classic, but it’s probably fair to declare it this: One of the bright points, and one of the greatest movies, of the horrible, awful 2016. It’s also likely the best film yet from Denis Villeneuve, the director behind the excellent Sicario and Prisoners—and who, with Arrival, offers something entirely different. Arrival is an ominous, thrumming, beautiful thing that starts out being about aliens who need a decoder ring. It ends up being about something quite different. by Erik Henriksen