An excellent film, where the main theme is not what it seems.
In general, I'm not a big fan of movies involving aliens... in part because they seem extremely unlikely to me (I don't really believe there is another planet with intelligent and skilled living beings like humans, or at least not developed enough to see us visit). However, I really enjoyed this film, which takes advantage of the visit of twelve spaceships from other worlds to make us question the way we view the passage of time and its linear nature. Critically acclaimed, the film received mixed reviews from audiences, with a number of detractors and admirers alike. I personally think the film is good enough to deserve our attention and respect.
To understand the script, it is necessary to bear in mind that the main theme of the film is not the spaceships and the alien visit, but Time, the passage of time and the way we look at it. As such, the film uses a non-linear narrative that can sometimes be difficult for viewers to understand: through dreams, the protagonist sees her young daughter, and we are led to think that she dreams of things from the past, and that she is now divorced, and her daughter has died of illness (I think it must have been leukemia). It is only later on that we realize that this is not quite the case… I don't want to reveal much more, but to understand the film, it is necessary to consider these points well. The extraterrestrial visit thus becomes an authentic sub-plot from a certain point onwards, and the real motivation of the visit is closely linked to its language and circular writing. I think I've given enough clues.
The advantages of this film being as it is are linked to the reflective and meditative form it takes, which can exasperate those who wanted more action or drama. I can understand that these audiences felt defrauded in their expectations. The slow narrative can sometimes drag on too much, and the film's extremely scientific nature can also make it a little difficult to understand. In the end, the quality of the plot goes downhill, things become something more cliché and predictable, but I saw that as less of a problem.
I liked the work of Amy Addams, I think that the actress was relatively ignored by the judges of the Oscars that year, and it would have been fair, at the very least, to be nominated for Best Actress. She did work with soul, heart and commitment. Jeremy Renner also gave us an excellent performance, perhaps one of the best of his career so far, along with “Hurt Locker”. Unfortunately, the good performances end here: there are other excellent actors, but they didn't receive good material. The most obvious case is that of Forest Whittaker, who shone in “The Last King of Scotland”, and had a flat character here, without any development. Even so, he managed to do a lot with the little he was given.
Despite only securing one Oscar for Sound Editing, the film was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Sound Mixing and Best Production Design. I don't know Dennis Villeneuve's work very well, I even have the impression that this was the first film of his that I've seen. So I'm not the best person to rate it. What I can say is that I liked the director's work here: he managed to give feeling and depth to a film that, on the other hand, could have been just an excuse for a lot of visual effects and CGI. The effects are there, the CGI is good, and it works really well, but the movie is more than that! The cinematography is also good, with many blurry scenes that are fundamental to the work of creating and manipulating the environment, with the film becoming increasingly tense and mysterious. The editing was also very well executed, although there were some pacing issues. Finally, a word of praise for Johann Johannsson's soundtrack, and in particular for the choice of the melody “On the Nature of Daylight”, by Max Richter.