Arrival

Close Encounters meets 10 Cloverfield Lane in this story of a First Contact with alien life to Earth.  12 Pods arrives dispersed across the globe and each of the 12 sites has to decide:  Friend or Foe?  Of course they can't talk to the aliens so 2 scientists are drafted to do the communications, Louise (Amy Adams) and Ian (Jeremy Renner).

The first part of the contact involves full body radiation suits and so Jeremy Renner replays his role in The Hurt Locker.   But this being Hollywood, Amy Adams dramatically takes off her helmet to be more "human" to the alien life forms they name... Abbott and Costello.  Of course they work on getting closer and closer but the evil military support (Forest Whitaker) has different ideas about what to do with these foreigners.

Well acted, strong leading lady, a somewhat different retelling of a familiar space story.   Directed by Denis Villaneueve (Sicario).  Nominated for Best Picture.  It was an honor just to be nominated.

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