Arrival follows linguist Louise Banks (Amy Adams) who is recruited to communicate with alien spacecraft that have landed around the world. As she learns the alien language, she discovers it changes how she perceives time. The film's themes — whether you would choose love and life knowing its full cost, determinism and free will, the nature of time — are genuinely profound. Content is clean (PG-13, no sexual content, mild language). 68/100 Mixed — excellent for thoughtful Christian engagement.
Arrival (2016, directed by Denis Villeneuve, adapted from Ted Chiang's short story "Story of Your Life") follows linguist and professor Louise Banks (Amy Adams) recruited by the US military to attempt communication with one of twelve alien spacecraft that have appeared around the world. As she learns the alien language — which is structured non-linearly — she discovers it physically alters how she experiences time, allowing her to perceive the future as well as the past.
The film received 8 Academy Award nominations including Best Picture. Amy Adams's performance is exceptional. It is considered one of the finest science fiction films ever made and one of the most emotionally devastating.
Arrival is rated PG-13 with mild language, no sexual content, and minimal violence. The film is appropriate for teenagers (13+) and adults without content concerns. Its contemplative pace may not work for viewers expecting action science fiction, but its content is completely clean.
The central question: Louise eventually discovers that she can see the future — including that she will have a daughter who will die young of a rare disease, and that the daughter's father will leave her when he learns Louise knew. The film's pivotal question: knowing all this in advance, would you still choose to have her? Louise says yes. This is not an abstract philosophical puzzle but a devastating emotional question about whether love is worth its cost even when you know the full cost in advance.
This resonates with Christian themes in a specific way: the doctrine of divine foreknowledge suggests God knew the full cost of creation — including the cross — before creating. That God created and redeemed anyway is the Christian answer to Arrival's question writ large.
Determinism and free will: Arrival's alien-language framework raises questions about whether knowing the future eliminates free will. If Louise knows what will happen, is she choosing it or simply enacting a predetermined script? This is the same question raised by Christian discussions of divine foreknowledge and human freedom — one of theology's most enduring debates.
Arrival is one of the best science fiction films for Christian engagement — its themes are serious, its content is clean, and its central question connects directly to Christian theology about love, foreknowledge, and sacrifice. It rewards discussion after viewing. Compare with Interstellar for another Villeneuve-adjacent thoughtful sci-fi film. See our Christian Faith Films hub. Plugged In reviews it in detail.