Arrival

Plot Summary:

Dr. Louise Banks is seen with her daughter at different stages of her life, and we witness their relationship blossom from the day of her birth, till the time she’s diagnosed with a fatal illness, and eventually succumbs to it. Dr. Banks goes on to teach linguistics at a university. She’s taking a class when a fire alarm goes off leading to an emergency evacuation, which is the first sign of the arrival of the UFOs. Shortly, Dr. Banks is approached by US Army Colonel Weber who needs her expertise to decipher an alien language. Banks insists on meeting the extra-terrestrials as she’s unaware of how they communicate.

Reluctantly, Dr. Banks is taken to one of the landing sites of the pod-shaped spaceships along with theoretical physicist Ian Donnelly. Clad in anti-radiation suits they proceed to make their first encounter with the aliens along with some soldiers for security, and to record the interactions for future analysis. The two aliens they meet across a thick transparent barrier are depicted with cephalopod-like features, who Donnelly names as Abbott and Costello. The beings communicate in the form of dark circles made of vapour, with intricate markings that act as syllables.

As the two of them begin to slowly interpret and decipher certain patterns, Dr. Banks eventually develops a rudimentary form of communication between the extra-terrestrials. However, the process isn’t fast enough for the army, who is now facing pressure from the American president to understand why the aliens are on Earth. Meanwhile, in other parts of the globe, various nationalities have also made progress communicating with the aliens but are hesitant to share their own findings with other countries, with the intent of having an advantage in the case of an attack.

Following a series of communications, Dr. Banks manages to decipher that the aliens are present to ‘offer weapon’. She believes the word ‘weapon’ could also mean ‘tool’, but this exacerbates the already tense situation in the American army.

The world is also on edge – those who have managed to make similar interpretations are now threatening to strike before the aliens do. Each country chooses to operate in isolation. However, as Dr. Banks and Donnelly decode the alien language, they also begin to understand the complexities of their thought process. The aliens process time in a non-linear manner, and are hence able to see the future, present and past simultaneously. This ability is primarily due their complicated language, based on a theory that all thought is affected by linguistics.

Dr. Banks also seems to be disturbed by dreams of her daughter, and of the aliens. These seem to overlap with her exchanges with the beings. She believes the beings are non-violent, and ventures out with Donnelly into the pod in one last attempt at dialogue before the army evacuates the landing site. However, they’re unaware that a few rogue soldiers have planted a timed explosive within the pod, which goes off just as the pair are about to gain more information from the aliens in the form of multiple circular patterns. The aliens manage to shield the pair using gravity. Following the explosion, the pods begin to rise above human reach.

Once Banks recovers from the shock of the explosion, she finds out that Donnelly has interpreted the information by the aliens, and that it is only one-twelfth in quantity, meaning that the rest of the data lies with the other 11 pods. The aliens were pushing humans to work with each other. Meanwhile, the Chinese government is prepared to attack the shell at their site. Dr. Banks rushes back to the pod, who sends a small shuttle to ferry her back inside. She discovers that Abbott is gravely injured by the explosion, and Costello reveals that her dreams and visions have been flashes from her future. Her daughter is yet to be born. The very nature of the alien language had changed her ability to perceive time. She was now equipped with the ability to change the present as she knew the outcome in the future. This gift was the offer from the aliens – they had come to equip humans with this tool, and they would need human help in return, 3000 years in the future.

This explains the conversations Dr. Banks is seen having with her daughter, particularly the discussion about the name ‘Hannah’ which is a palindrome, and can be spelled both ways. The nature of a palindrome can also be used to understand the events of Dr. Banks’ life and how they’ve played out in the film in reverse. Her husband’s decision to leave her and Hannah is because she proceeded to conceive the child even though she knew of her fatal illness – a fact he could not come to terms with. Equipped with this knowledge, Dr. Banks has a new vision of being at a United Nations party where she meets the Chinese General Shang who thanks her for all her efforts and for a phone call she made to his personal number which made him change his mind about the aliens. She appears surprised in her vision, as the General proceeds to give her his number along with personal information about his dying wife to verify her authenticity. In the present, Dr. Banks manages to steal a satellite phone from the army camp who is about to evacuate. She proceeds to call General Shang and give him the personal information which then proves to be successful in changing his mind, as the vision predicted. This leads to the attack being called off and remaining nations follow suit.

As the pods begin to leave the planet, Dr. Banks has further visions where she discovers that Donnelly is the father of her unborn child. In the present, he confesses his love for her and they both contemplate the possibility of starting a life together, thus closing the loop on her premonitions.