Jacksonville, Fla. – The military calls on a language specialist Louise Banks (Amy Adams) after 12 alien ships invade the world on various continents. From the beginning this film is engaging, emotional and a work of art, from the soundtrack and emotion shown through its dreary setting. Banks makes contact with the aliens and discovers that they are not on Earth to destroy it; they want to bring the nations together. Meanwhile the film evolves into a movie about the arrival of Banks' first child, who will be lost to a deadly medical condition. This is what makes the film confusing. It goes from the mission to keep peace with aliens, to love and motherhood. The contrast can be accepted as creative and artistic, but based upon the movie trailer, this is deceptive for the moviegoer who is expecting an alien invasion movie.
Overall, "Arrival" is presented well, but fails to maintain one storyline, creating more confusion than a viewer may want.