*ARRIVAL* Left Us MIND BLOWN

Arrival (2016) | First Time Watching | Movie Reaction
Click the link below and join NOW for Early Access & Uncut Reactions on our Patreon: / spartanandpudgey
OUR INSTAGRAM: spartanandp...
OUR DISCORD: / discord
If you would like to support our channel, click on the JOIN button and receive some extra perks such as membership badges, exclusive custom emotes and priority reply to comments!
P.O box:
Spartan & Pudgey
Po Box 8017
Oakleigh East, VIC 3166
If you want to avoid expensive shipping due to us living in Australia, here is a little work around on Amazon (can do the same on ebay using www.ebay.com.au) which some people have used and made it a lot more affordable. We just wanted to share this with those who this may concern.
1. Go to top right of Amazon homepage where it has your country flag and language showing
2. Click change country/region on dropdown menu
3. Change country to Australia
4. Amazon page will change all products to those in Australian warehouses. Put items in cart, send to S&P PO box address as you normally would. Should be minimal shipping because its shipping from within Australia
Introduction: 0:00 - 3:55
Reaction: 3:56 - 54:07
Discussion/Review: 54:08 - 1:19:20
#inception #reaction #moviereaction

[@SpartanandPudgey]

Wow....this one left us thinking for some time....what a crazy scenario! Want to watch 4 weeks EARLY and access our UNCUT reactions? AND Vote for what Movie we watch next over on Patreon! www.patreon.com/spartanandpudgey

[@rafm3068]

Great reaction!! Arrival is a beautiful sci-fi film based on a short story by Ted Chiang. You guys should react to the Blade Runner movies!

[@GopherBaroque61]

37:28 LOL Nice instincts, Pudgey... You tell Spartan...

[@lynxvex]

The gift allows you to see the future but not necessarily change it; being non-linear, there is no more cause and effect. Heptapod couldn't heal Costello dying, Louis couldn't heal her daughter.

[@shangreiplay774]

If u guys haven't watched Rush hour that movie is fun to watch 💯 recommend

[@elvisdeonarine]

my question is why would let the not mentally inclined ppl watch this movie is equivalent to torturing animals

[@VIL1FY]

Spartan the answer you're seeking at the end is that the language the Heptapods gift will help the humans not blow each other up so in 3,000 years they can help the Heptapods. If the humans didn't learn their language the Heptapods know they will go extinct which in turn means their own extinction. (since they can see the future)

[@dondumitru7093]

If time can't be changed, then the reason the heptapods helped humanity is simply "because that's what the heptapods have always done".

[@bradxv]

so I'm supposed to believe that Amy Addams taught everyone on Earth the new language?

[@VIL1FY]

@@bradxv Not necessarily everyone just the select few that control the course of humanity's future..

[@dondumitru7093]

@@bradxv She wrote a book on the language. Anyone who wanted to learn the language and was able to apply the discipline would be able to learn the language. Consider French. As an English-speaker, you can buy self-taught courses to learn French. How many English-speakers actually go on to learn French? Some do, but the percentage is quite small. There would be much more motivation to learn heptapod since it represents a monumental change in the development of humanity. But yet, the language would take time to permeate thru humanity, with some people having more fluent use of the language sooner than others do. It appears that Hannah did not grow up knowing the heptapod language. Despite the fact that we know that young children learn languages much more easily than older people do. If you were a parent, would you enroll your young child in a heptapod-immersion school?

[@maxducoudray]

@@dondumitru7093It’s been well proven that children don’t actually learn languages faster than adults. It’s simply that they are more immersed in it.

[@PilsnerGrip]

Reactions to this movie taught me that not that many people know about the "canary in the mine" practice :D

[@deek60819]

this movie will do more to teach people about that than the education system tbh

[@betteryourlife865]

I mean she kinda got it when she said she’d figure she would be fine and be able to breathe because the bird was okay.

[@ryanhighberg4662]

Or in modern times, the California condor in the lithium mine

[@KingApeiron]

These Aussies don't know what Kangaroo means! 🤣

[@donrichards271]

@@deek60819 I'd say it's more that the metaphor has fallen out of favor in popular culture than any fault of the education system. Sort of like "hoist on your own petard".

[@Rubiks_LIVE]

Pudgey was so excited to guess correctly that she forgot to understand how emotional and powerful the ending was

[@fakecubed]

And I think Spartan was so pissed off that she guessed it early that it took him out of the film, too.

[@patrikneperfekta7575]

I mean, he looked to be almost crying, but couldn't over Pudgey's laugh. This movie is better in private, when you are not performing a reaction for youtube.

[@wadestewart5504]

​@patrikneperfekta7575 No these 2 and especially the female, is very emotionally immature still. Like a mid teenager... nearly soulless.

[@true_drew_]

@@wadestewart5504 that’s an arbitrarily cruel thing to say. They might not have seen films with this level of depth and weren’t prepared for it, considering when I watched this film I expected “SciFi” and got so much more instead.

[@NinjaBee81]

Yeah that constant laughing at the ’very emotional’ end was quite annoying. Also I have noticed Spartan is hella competitive, I think they both are.

[@ven_skywalker7007]

The really cool thing about the Heptapods language is that since it opens time for Louise now and she sees it in a non-linear view, she can always see and visit the memories she has with her daughter, so they’ll always be together

[@andrew.lp.mcneill]

Sucks for the daughter though

[@fakecubed]

@@andrew.lp.mcneill Her daughter lived a good life. We all die eventually. Do you think that because we die it's better we never lived?

[@ESCLuciaSlovakia]

@@fakecubed Yes, I think it's better. We haven't lived for the past 14 billion years and have nothing to complain about during that time, pure tranquility and a peace. Now we are living for a few decades, come to know suffering and then, who knows. Hopefully the same nothingness as before. Dying is the worst thing anyone can experience, but you can't die if you are not born.

[@fakecubed]

@@ESCLuciaSlovakia The fact you spend significant time and energy keeping yourself alive instead of checking out early is proof you’re full of shit.

[@70briareos]

"Couples miscommunicate all the bloody time and they're speaking the same language. Imagine aliens!" That's a brilliant observation!

[@liprekt]

This is one of my favorite movies. As a side note, I think people need to stop telling reactors "this is a very emotional movie," etc. because that sort of thing should be discovered upon watching. When reactors are told these things in advance, what tends to happen is they end up "bracing" themselves for something that they expect will be coming soon.

[@stillninja2741]

Agreed

[@user-uu9vh4zg5v]

Spoilers can be subtle. They don't have to be an event in the story, or a plot reveal. Creating anticipation is a spoiler. "This is a great movie" becomes a spoiler. Imagine Louise watching Game of Thrones. The Heptapods screwed her.

[@mannygee005]

setting up an expectation is disrupting the storytelling reveal. It becomes impossible for the reactors to have the same experience because they've been "clued in" and told ahead of time "what to feel." It spoils the carefully crafted experience... by the writers and film makers.

[@user-uu9vh4zg5v]

@@mannygee005 exactly. 👉Yesterday, in the ER, my mother's partner: "That race today..." Me: "Don't say _anything_ ! I DVRed it." Him: "I know! I'm just sayin', they've never started a race on rain tires before." Me: 🤬 He's 90...🙄

[@liprekt]

@@mannygee005 I make reaction videos myself, with a whopping 2 loyal viewers haha, but I never wanna know what to expect from a movie/show. All I need to know is the genre. I consume reaction videos more than I make them, but it's always been a big pet peeve of mine when the comments clue-in the reactors on "how" to feel about a movie/show they're requesting, or overhype what's coming if it's a series. People should just let things happen, because that's how you get the most genuine reaction, which I think is the whole point...otherwise you're just performing and not so much reacting anymore. Say, even if Spartan & Pudgey DID end up getting emotional during Arrival, would it have come off sincere if they already knew they were meant to be emotional? When I watched this movie for the first time years ago, all I knew was that it was sci-fi and starred Amy Adams. I ended up bawling my eyes out at the end.

[@blinkachu5275]

"Still don't know what their job was" It was to give their language to the humans. Their language is the "weapon", because it allows you to see time like they do

[@PowerlightGG]

Yeah he understood that I think, what he meant was WHY they need human to see time like they do. To help them yes but for what? How seeing time like they do is gonna help them?

[@astragalusson]

@@PowerlightGG I think they knew humans needed the language to be advanced enough (or maybe even exist) to help the aliens 3000 years later.

[@PowerlightGG]

@@astragalusson Yes but help for what? I personally don't need to know, the movie is one of my favorite but I can understand people wanting to know why was it all for

[@etiennebrownlee4071]

@@PowerlightGG Yup I also have a friend who's an action buff, they really don't appreciate philosophical sci fi movies much. They want matter of fact sci fi action. These movies dont conclude with a bang, but rather more with an answer.

[@TheJordanK]

@@PowerlightGGthey need help with not going extinct.

[@WerlockHolmes]

Here's how I understood it - Louise didn't really have 'visions' of the future, she was just living all of those events but not how humans usually live them, in a clear sort of order. So when the general showed her the number, she was surprised because she lived that moment as it was and didn't realise it was the future. When you fully embrace that there really is no present and future for the heptapods and for anyone who learns their language, then you can see why it's a 'weapon'.

[@MrDupawolowa]

I feel like, what Spartan missed is that the movie isn't about the aliens or geopolitics. The movie is about Louise and how her life was affected by the arrival of these aliens. If you look at it as her story, you will see that the movie ends, the moment she decides to still have her daughter and not tell the father about the illness. That's why the emotional beats didn't hit you as much as other people because you were concentrating on the aliens that storyline. For example, we don't get any explanation how humans will help the heptapods in 3000 years because it is irrelevant to Louise's story.

[@1HalfbloodPrince]

Yes to everything, but, she still will tell dad that she knows they die. She's seen it already happen and she chose, like with her daughter, to experience everything that comes and just enjoy the good moments while they're happening and not focus on how things eventually end. The love she will get to experience, even if it's short, waaay out weighs the sadness that will also come.

[@MetalGuitarTimo]

@@1HalfbloodPrince i understand what you are saying and that it is the movies intention. but in reality 1 happy year can be followed by 30 years of grief and sadness. so i dont think the movie is realistic in that regard..

[@1HalfbloodPrince]

@@MetalGuitarTimo but she has the gift now to see time differently. That's what happens when you truly understand the language. Even when she will get eventually horrendously sad she can still experience the, what maybe like 14 years, she gets with her daughter. The point is that the love we get to share with people is worth whatever comes after. She would rather have experienced the love and joy, even if it's short. Sharing experiences with people is what lifes all about. Of course there's sadness, but the need for human connection is stronger. (This doesn't apply to every single person, this movie was specifically about lousie)

[@brianreid5891]

I agree. The impact of this movie is best experienced focusing on Louise’s story. To try to figure out the whole movie as your watching takes away from the emotion and the WEIGHT of the decision Louise makes to face the future birth life and death of both her daughter and her relationship believing it is all worth it. The courage and faith it takes to embrace the suffering to that degree for the immense joy of having and raising your child is incredible. So beautiful and hopeful.

[@whiterabbitchaser9045]

The weapon is knowledge. The more she understood the language the more she was aware of the past, present, and the future as one.

[@SarahWard-dl1ji]

The canary is there to alert them to noxious gases - it would die first 😕. Miners used to take them underground before modern technology.

[@JigInsane]

Hence the phrase "canary in the coal mine"

[@zardify_]

It wouldn't die. They watched it's behavior. It'd make noises, and they'd all come back up, including the canary. "Noxious" gases were also not very common, 90% of the time, it's just poor ventilation and oxygen running out.

[@dondumitru7093]

@@JigInsane It rather surprises me the number of reactors to this movie who seem to have never heard the phrase "canary in the coal mine". I suppose that represents progress, since actual coal mines are terribly unhealthy places to work, so younger people having less contact with the trappings of coal mining would be a good thing.

[@WelshAmethystGirl087]

​@@dondumitru7093I know right in the UK it's taught when your young and we visited coal and gold mines as school trips

[@a.r.5100]

That's an awesome bit of trivia that makes alot of sense. But also... poor birds 😢

[@dondumitru7093]

Since the heptapods experience time nonlinearly, 'when' they arrived, they already knew English, they had already met Louise, they already knew that Abbot would die in the explosion, etc. When Louise first enters the ship, Abbot and Costello would be, like, "Hey, Louise is finally here, maybe we can get started with this thing?" but also, Abbot might have been "Hold up a sec', I'm going to die towards the end of this process, maybe we could slow down some and enjoy the experience instead of just rushing through?" From the standpoint of the heptapods, they already had the script, and it was like they were acting in a show. Maybe the show could be called, I dunno, maybe, "Mommy and Daddy Talk to Animals"?

[@michaelklaus]

It is kinda funny that you still describe the events of the heptapods on earth in a linear fashion.

[@dondumitru7093]

@@michaelklaus English is a very clumsy language.

[@eschatological]

I think there's still choice involved. Abbott has to choose to continue towards its death. Visions can not come to pass - I think we're to assume that the way humans are supposed to "use [this] weapon" is to avoid the pitfalls of in-fighting and world wars and violence, etc, so they're capable of helping the heptapods later. I assume bad actors could still choose to try and wage "disunification."

[@dondumitru7093]

@@eschatological I think it's clearly an element of the storytelling to not give an outright answer to the question of "Is the future predetermined?" It is left unanswered in order to give the audience another question to engage with. Nevertheless, I suggest that the death of Abbott is non-conclusive evidence that the future is predetermined. If it weren't, wouldn't Abbott have simply decided to eject Louise and Ian a little earlier, so that Abbott could also get out of range of the explosion? We can invent answers for why that scenario might not be, but those would be moving farther and farther from what the movie actually supports through what it shows us. We should give large credit to what the movie actually shows us, and not try to invent lots of things that aren't really supported by the shown narrative (for example, don't invent that Abbott was sick and was going to die a more painful death in a few days anyway).

[@eschatological]

@@dondumitru7093 I think Abbott's decisions are predicated on how quickly Louise picks up on what she needs to do, which is out of Abbott's control. We see that Louise doesn't have knowledge of Shang's phone number in the 18 months between the departure and the gala, but as soon as he shows her, she realizes she knew it all along. In that sense, maybe Abbott doesn't really know it's going to die until everything prior solidifies to that certainty. If you ever watched the Matrix trilogy, there's a line about fate vs. free will that I think applies here: the future is set in as much as you've already made the choice, based on every other choice and outside factors that have built you, and "seeing the future" as the Oracle does is merely about understand why you made that choice and what it logically leads to.

[@PilsnerGrip]

A lot of sci-fi try to explain things in science terms, but it usually doesn't work and ends up as useless exposition. If you think about it, many things in this movie are a mystery and basically magic to us: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" - Arthur C. Clarke. But because it's adapted by a master director, it works.

[@o.b.7217]

Sparta: it's not that complicated, really. Louise had learned to think like "Abbott and "Costello". Meaning: for her, time wasn't that linear thing anymore, that it is to us, where everything is either in the past, the presence, or the future. For her, time is basically one moment, in which she can access everything that happened, happens just now, and will happen. When she sees her daughter in these "flashbacks", she sees what will happen, and also what has happened, already. There's nothing she can change about it. The fact that she has these flashbacks, is confirmation already, that she will have her daughter. The decision to have her, even while knowing how it will end, has been made already at that point. Or will be made. Or is made just now. That's the beauty of great sci-fi...it makes you think. And it makes you wonder. And it has you in awe.

[@GuilhermeGomes-rd8zm]

not me tearing up as soon as "On the nature of Daylight" starts playing.... Gosh I love this movie

[@ofthenearfuture]

It also hit super hard in episode 3 of The Last of Us

[@GuilhermeGomes-rd8zm]

@@ofthenearfuturedefinitely!

[@IndySidhu88]

Loved your reaction and one of my favourite films of all time. The General's wife’s last words are “In war there are no winners, only widows.”

[@EBlank3807]

Never knew this. Very interesting

[@IndySidhu88]

@@Steve-G-Maine1 that’s why I emphasised the last words not the conversation she engaged with the General before she spoke his wife’s final words. We can sort of guess she’s saying to the general who she is and why he should listen to her.

[@Pipboy989]

So weird you come into every single Arrival reaction and randomly say this, unprompted. It's not like it's some kind of relevatory bit of the movie that completes changes its meaning or story. Imagine just randomly walking into some conversation, saying some bit of trivia when no one asked, then walking off.

[@IndySidhu88]

@@Pipboy989 I like this statement and I like to inform the first time reactors. I don't see the need to re-type what I said without just Copy and Pasting. I just like this cool fact that I want to share.

[@Steelburgh]

​@@Pipboy989That's kind of what OP comments are.

[@blackjack47]

You guys, especially Spartan completely missed the point, the movie presents a dilemma using the sci-fi element as a plot point, none of the aliens, 3000 years and beyond ultimately matter. They are tool to cleverly reach the point where Louise sees her life, that she will be very happy for ~10-15 years, but ultimately loses everything. She actively makes the choice to lose Ian and her Daughter in the future. Would you have a child knowing it dies in 10 years? Would you fall in love and marry, knowing that ultimately they leave you. This is why it's so brilliant and profound because to her the answer is yes, that's why she asks him in the end, would you change a thing, because she is trying to justify it to herself, knowing he won't be ok with it ultimately, no matter what he says.

[@januarybaby1063]

Similar to Eternal Sunshine but not quite as good

[@derps0n839]

Yeah it's more of a philosophical film with a sci-fi wrapper.

[@oliverdemingoy7464]

Exactly. We don't need to know exactly what happens in 3,000 years. All we need to know is that aliens will need humans help in the future, which is their motivation for giving Louise the gift of their language. Spoon-feeding the audience about every detail in the future would have strayed from the main point of the film and the director is respecting the audience's intelligence by leaving that part open-ended so that we can focus on the main themes of the movie instead.

[@wadestewart5504]

The movie is about Hannas arrival. The aliens where just a part of it....

[@Steelburgh]

​​@@januarybaby1063 Hrm, both those movies are in my top 5 all time but I'd put Arrival higher. Maybe because I'm a parent so this hits harder for me. Plus, as good as Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet were, Amy Adams is just transcendent. But yeah, there's a theme in my top movies. This, Eternal Sunshine, and Interstellar especially all deal with themes of time, relationships, and memory.

[@ExperiencewithDrew]

I don't know if you noticed that she wrote a book teaching others the heptapode language. During that gala you see a banner in the back that had the language. Meaning that by teaching Louise the language, she would teach others and humanity would start unlocking time and united together. This was the gift (weapon) that they offered. It was irrelevant what the event in 3,000 years would be, as nobody in the movie would be alive by then. They gave the information that was needed and then left. I liked how they resolved the plot but left it slightly open ended.

[@loftyguy11]

We all assumed they were flashbacks only to realize they were flashforwards. Which in a way are the exact same thing. It's so hard to comprehend, but "perfect timing" doesn't make sense. It happened. Period. Doesn't matter when. Time is nonlinear. What will happen has already happened. It's a circle. If you believe that, then you can't change the future anymore than you can change the past.

[@danielealbertin4936]

In the end, it wasn't alien's but baby's Arrival.

[@zissoulander]

This is it right here

[@Trepanation21]

8:14 It's not that she knows something that others don't, it's about her attention to the nuances of language and the cultures they belong to. If the other linguist generalizes the concept as "an argument" (thus, a confrontation/conflict), whereas she understands that in *_that_* culture, the only real reasons for "war" would be to acquire and consolidate assets ("a desire for more cows"), she's making a very important distinction between interpretations, that, as you saw in the film, is extremely important to pay attention to.

[@orphanedhanyou]

Agree, "desire for more cows" sounds benign until you are in a culture in the middle of a famine and you would go to war for a food source.

[@rx7dude2006]

Spartan"I still don't know what their job was".Talk about a palm to the face,lol.

[@maxrockatansky4650]

37:30....... "No Pudgey no. You're smarter than this.." ....Spartan. BAHAHAHAAAAA

[@andreveronez7848]

This is one of my favorite films ever. It was all done so well, I never get tired of revisiting it.

[@fakecubed]

It's better the second watch when you understand what's happening. But it's still one of the best movies ever on the first watch.

[@tigerjonn]

General Shang's Wife's dying words... "There are no winners in war, only widows."

[@Steve-G-Maine1]

That's what the screen writer put in the script but the final words were slightly different. There was much more Mandarin dialog in the scene when she called the general. Here's everything that was spoken in the scene. He answered and said "Hello, who are you?" Louise said: "General, I'm in the American camp." "General, your wife sent me a message in my dream." "She said, you should use your courage to help save the world." "War doesn't make heroes, only orphans and widows."

[@mannygee005]

wow, awesome! Something to think about...

[@timolsson3670]

Louise could change her future by telling Ian that they will have a kid thats going to get sick. But she says in the movie that she CHOOSE to embrace the moments instead despite knowning the outcome. So with that said humanity can help the heptapods in the future because they can change the outcome once understanding the universal language.

[@michaelklaus]

The point really is that Louise is not changing the future. The heptapods are the solution for the conflict that happens in the movie, but they are also the cause. That is the logical conclusion once you assume that Einstein was right about the distinction between past, present, and future being a stubborn illusion. The heptapods must know that humanity will have helped them because the humans see their arrival as an intervention that has solved other conflicts that may have happened afterward. We can only assume that two (or more) outcomes of a situation can be (equally) possible because we can not perceive the outcome yet. Only after the act. But the heptapods and who holds their "weapon" can perceive the outcome of an action before the act. It is very much the same as the message in the The Matrix series. It is not about making a decision but only about understanding the decision that allows you to see beyond it. Louise can see beyond her decision to have a child, and since she understands why she did it, she can not make any other decision. Louise is not changing the future but more establishing the future the heptapods will have already been living in.

[@TARS20]

The thing is, Louis cannot change the future. It already happened. Time is non-linear. It was just an illusion of free will.

[@cherrypi_b]

@@TARS20 In the book, yes, but not in the movie. Villeneuve made very clear in the interviews that Louise had free will and could have decided to change things. The "Louise cannot change the future. It already happened." is your assumption, it's never stated in the film. Probably because it's a trope many other movies and books have used as a premise. Non-linear just means that something does not progress or develop smoothly from one stage to the next in a logical way. Instead, it can make sudden changes, or maybe develops in different directions at the same time. It doesn't have to be a neverchanging circle or route.

[@orphanedhanyou]

​@cherrypi_b so the director is trying to say "nope ignoring the book Louise can change the future"? Why would he directly contradict source material? Or was it simply he personally thinks and hopes that vs any "you better interpret my film as diverging from the books on this point"?

[@TARS20]

​@@cherrypi_bthe thing is, making it free will open up a massive plot hole: Abbott's choice. Why would Abbott choose to die when it wasn't necessary? Abbott knew it was a bomb, Abbott knew how long it would take to detonate. The whole bomb scene became unnecessary, Abbott could simply invite Louis to board the ship like Costello did and the result would be the same. So unless Abbott had no choice, the whole bomb scene is a moot and a massive plot hole.

[@FulcanMal]

"It is the first weapon drawn in a conflict." This is how Louise describes language in the forward of her book. I freakin' love this movie.

[@Steelburgh]

Ooh never made that connection! Good one.

[@robertmarginean164]

Zero sum games are more commonly referred to than non zero sum games. A zero sum game is one where for there to be winners, there have to be losers, and the outcomes balance each other out (because the sum of the earnings is 0). This is basically most games, think tic-tac-toe, tennis, football etc. In a non zero sum game, there is no such condition: cooperation is most often key for this type of games

[@fakecubed]

I wish more people got some basic economics education in school. But I suspect most governments running those schools feel it's more beneficial to their power if they keep the population ignorant.

[@user-tg8kn3zx6s]

You love pirates, you love space and sci-fi, it is really time to watch The Expanse.

[@LaMancha958]

YES!! The best Sci-Fi-Show ever!

[@Reedstilt]

Really would be curious to know if any of the Patrons are pushing for The Expanse. I'd love to see Spartan and Pudgey tackle it.

[@coexist617]

I feel like they would LOVE The Expanse.

[@LaMancha958]

@@coexist617 I think so too! 😁

[@pseudonymousbeing987]

For sure up their politics/action series taste.

[@johnj4471]

I don’t blame Ian but I also can’t be mad at Louise about the child. She knows the good times with her daughter and all the love and she can’t keep her alive. His stance is why have a child at all if you know she’ll suffer and die. It hurts either way for her.

[@fakecubed]

Every parent knows their kid is going to die someday. Louise just knows when and how. But she also knows exactly how much joy Hannah will have in her life, and how much joy she'll bring to others for as long as she's around.

[@jaybeepainting9413]

The first time I watched this, it was the line 'I don't understand. Who is this child?' that made everything instantly click for me, and it broke my heart. She knew the outcome of her life, she knew the absolute heartbreak and pain she would experience losing her child, and she chose it anyway. To her, the happy times living with her daughter (and husband) was worth the devastation. There's also the idea that she told Ian that their daughter would die, and he was angry, angry that the choice was never his to make, and it impacted his ability to bond with his daughter, knowing she would die. It's really devastating and sorrowful, and it all emerged from that one line. The other interesting element worth discussing is - did she even have a choice? She could see the future, she knew the events that would happen, so the decision to have a baby was already made. It's a discussion about free will vs pre-determined destiny. Were these events truly already written, and Louise merely was shown a copy of the book? The point itself is not what the aliens needed humanity's help with, the point itself, as asked by Louise towards the end is 'if you could see the entire story of your life, would you change anything?' The sci-fi story merely creates the setting for this interesting discussion. The language theory stuff is also really intelligent and quite a cool concept to explore.

[@jaybeepainting9413]

Okay I'd like to add to this (I wrote this comment as I was listening to your debrief, and as you're continuing to speak, more things are coming to mind) - to say it's not about what the aliens need help with is kinda unfair. The reason they shared the message in 12 parts is to make humans work together - I assume they somehow knew, seeing all of time in a non-linear fashion, that they needed humanity, and humanity would not be around in 3000 years if we continued as we were. They needed us to work together, and sharing this language, but trying to encourage us to come to work together was how they tried to do it. Ultimately, we failed to do so, and they needed to use Louise as the catalyst for forcing us too. General Zhang didn't learn the language, but when Louise called him, he (in the future) knew what had happened in 'the past', including what she told him, so he relayed the details (his phone number and his wife's dying words) in the future, knowing she would somehow then 'know' this in the past.

[@Yaktahbay]

Yes, and a key is her telling Hannah that the disease is "unstoppable".

[@mannygee005]

nice comments! I like sci-fi for this reason. Almost all sci-fi are good. I have to say my one line description what categorizes a sci-fi story. It is "about future technology and its effects on human society." It is always about the human story but with the catalyst of advanced technology projected into the future. I like that the movie leaves a lot to interpretation. I feel that 3,000 years is far enough away that it bears almost no relation to today - therefore the risks facing us today is about fighting each other, maybe we'll hurt each other or not be able to resolve a threat from outside. Their language also may not be a big deal for the fate of humanity, I mean we probably do not need to evolve to that high a level. What was clear was that it was needed at that one moment when Louise used it with the help of the general... to calm the world so-to-speak.

[@Steelburgh]

Great summary.

[@Steelburgh]

​@@YaktahbayRight? That's a problem I always had with the short story.

[@hmg9665]

Theres two visions you missed one is the book she wrote that teaches the world of how to understand the language second shes in a class room teaching it to the students. As the years go by the entire earth will experience non-linear time!!!

[@amrbasri68]

What if someone doesnt want that 😂

[@dondumitru7093]

@@amrbasri68 One may, of course, simply spend the rest of their lives on pursuits such as watching KZbin, should that be their desire. Everyone who has learned the heptapod language will not be surprised by your choice to not learn it.

[@TARS20]

​@@amrbasri68well, you can simply not learn the language. You can only experience the non-linear time perception if you immerse yourself in their language.

[@amrbasri68]

@dondumitru7093 damn coming out strong, whats up ur behind man. I meant it as a joke. Like what if this language gets pushed on kids, and the kids end up being depressed. No need for that attitude and condescending reply

[@amrbasri68]

@@dondumitru7093 you must be a zionist

[@fiImedeterror]

"imagine having all the answers but no one's listening to you" pudgey that's you every reaction my girl 😭😭

[@prasannasurange]

Spartan...the aliens in the movie are incidental. The movie is about Louise and how she approaches life. The help by humanity in 3000 yrs is just a plot point

[@Steelburgh]

Yes! This isn't an alien movie. They're a vehicle to get to the real story about journey vs destination.

[@monygemini88]

Pudgey is so proud of herself and Spartan is so annoyed, lol

[@fakecubed]

And so they both were so focused on that instead of enjoying the end of the film.

[@HalkerVeil]

It takes 3000 years for humanity to reach a point that can help the heptapods, why is irrelevant as humanity doesn't even know this yet, after being given the language and a few being able to see all of their time at once. Allowing those people to help humanity reach that point. And yet it still takes 3000 years due to the state we are in now.

[@fakecubed]

Aliens in most science fiction universes are quite aware that humans are insane, yet highly-adaptable mad scientists who will pull miracles out of their butts as soon as as they're under pressure. We're the "hold my beer" species, the "look Ma, no hands" species. We do the things that no advanced civilization would ever do, just because we want to find out what will happen if we try. That's a very dangerous trait, which is why they usually avoid contact with us, but it's also a very useful one if they run into trouble. Who else would think to "reverse the polarity" on that carefully engineered piece of technology that has a specific calibration and standardized operating limits? Who else would wake up from a dream about a "flux capacitor" and then actually build one with stolen Libyan plutonium and test it on a beloved pet? It took the aliens millennia of heavier-than-air flight on their planets before they dared risk breaking the sound barrier, but we have mad lads figuring out how to cook food with jet engines just because we got bored one day. What is it they need us to do in 3,000 years that they're incapable of doing? I can imagine all sorts of crazy things. In 3,000 years we're probably way ahead of them in technology.

[@Yaktahbay]

This leads me to wonder whether a Heptapod-speaker's vision is limited to events personally experienced within his or her lifetime. It seems reasonable and, if so, Costello or whoever initiated this mission must be destined to still be alive 3000 years hence. Otherwise, how would they know they'd need us then?

[@HalkerVeil]

@@Yaktahbay Shared knowledge chains. It's a sci-fi concept rarely tapped into. So you have multiple people who live and can experience all of their personal time together, you can link up with another who can as well who outlives you, and that person to another who outlives them. Each a chain link given information like a game of telephone. And just like a game of telephone, there is the issue of data reliance and ensuring it doesn't change at each handoff. Not sure if the writer went into that on this book.

[@kevinhaynes9091]

Pudgey, your comment/sentiment about the importance of communication, is 'say what you mean, and mean what you say'... As for understanding time, by the end of the movie, all time is happening at the same time for Louise, which is why the effects are being felt by her at the beginning of the film. Such a clever film...

[@deltazeroks]

pudgey: 'oh wow its their names' spartan: 'oh cool, circle and circle :)'

[@Veltree]

Spartans a little slow but I appreciate the enthusiasm lol. Yes, every question was answered clearly. And if you paid attention, it’s not a story about aliens it’s a story about humans.

[@johnmiller7682]

They keep saying weapon. That's meant to be confusing. Remember, Louise said that they don't know if the aliens know the difference between weapon and tool. So really, what they were probably saying was that Louise is a tool., and their language is a tool.

[@FulcanMal]

Its actually a reference to the forward of her book. "It is the first weapon drawn in a conflict." They call it a weapon, because she called it a weapon.

[@jeliusbeanus]

I've always felt the undercurrent of this movie is that life isn't about the destination, it's about what you do while you are here. That there will always be pain and loss, but the joys you experience on the journey are worth the price.

[@DJ_Cub]

22:36 “the fact they have names shows a higher intelligence” lol the control over gravity and the ability to travel through space wasn’t a giveaway huh Spartan? Lmfao

[@stillninja2741]

'Here's your sign' - Bill Egvall

[@orphanedhanyou]

A bird can travel through the air in a way we cannot, are they more intelligent? Isn't there a short list of how we categorize intelligent life forms and a big one is self awareness ex they see a mirror & know they are seeing themselves vs attack the "stranger" staring back at them?

[@tybass413]

Different forms of intelligence honestly

[@tyronnemoosa4741]

@@orphanedhanyoubirds can’t invent the tech to travel through space to other planets can they?

[@vvreno]

In the movie we see the process of Louise learning the Heptapod language. And in one of her future “visions” she sees that she ends up writing the book on the alien language. Beyond her own life, the book will enable humanity to learn the language as well and they will be able to think non-linearly the way Louise does. Somehow, this enables humanity to help the Heptapods in the future. Regarding changing fate, I’m not clear because according to their language, the end and the beginning are one complete whole, a circle. You see your experience from beginning to end. I’m not sure how change fits into a completed circle. Maybe as you make choices, your circle changes. The more I think about it, you might be able to see/experience the future consequences of your choices. That would be a very enlightened way to live.

[@Steelburgh]

It's an interesting mind bender. If you change something, then that's the way it always would've been so your future memories would be altered and you'd never know you made the change in the first place. So did you really change anything or is hst just how it always was? Fun to ponder on fate vs choice.

[@Pixelologist]

The bird is the "canary in the coal mine". If you're not familiar with that concept, miners used to bring canaries into the mines with them because the birds would be affected by adverse air conditions/particulates before the miners....giving them warning and, hopefully, allowing the miners to get out before THEY were overcome. That's why when Dr. Banks glances over and realizes that the bird is, in fact, okay, she decides she can chance removing her hazmat protection.

[@fakecubed]

And the canary was an important member of the team, not a sacrificial animal. Soon as the canary starts having trouble they get the canary out of the mine, too, so they can keep reusing it.

[@MerinLightbringer]

the song in the beginning is "Max Richter - On the Nature of Daylight". Its also used in Shutter Island, which you should watch too^^

[@clarkmichaels822]

I think the question the movie asks is, even if you know you're going to lose something is it still worth having it. But the issue here is that the thing you're having and losing is a child. Does the child deserve to suffer and die when you know it will suffer and die, because you want to have the child? Having a child is always selfish, but does Louise cross a line when she knows the child will not have a great life.

[@dondumitru7093]

I don't accept any assertion that Hannah didn't have a great life. We might judge her life as 'short', but she appears to have been very loved, to have not experienced pain during the vast majority of her life, and we are led to believe that she had an expressive creativity that touched others.

[@fakecubed]

What's selfish about giving a person literally everything they have?

[@janeathome6643]

But think of your own life. If your parents knew what you would suffer during the course of your life, would you wish that they never brought you into the world? Would you rather miss your life because of the suffering? Everyone who lives suffers, will suffer, but that doesn't diminish the beauty and the joy of being alive.

[@lexwells4763]

Spartan, I personally have looked into death a lot. Way more than most. What I have learned is that life is like a spark from a flint. Life is so fast that separating start from end might be pointless. It was about that moment of light or spark that was the gift. So life, in a way, might be something like this alien gift. The moment someone arrives in your life, you also lose them. Because its so fast separating the two is pointless. Struggling against it is futile, like Ian chooses to do. The only thing that we can do is enjoy it, like Louise does. This is one of my favorite movies. I think Pudgey might be alien.

[@amrbasri68]

Ur analysis is good, but depressing

[@lexwells4763]

​@@amrbasri68 Death is alien to many people.

[@gworld9012]

The unification of the world is the goal,so when they need help 3000 years later earth would be united.

[@fzwilling]

The tool, the weapon is how we perceive time, for us time is linear, but what happens if time isn't linear for you anymore. The future, past and present are our conception of time, for the aliens and later the protagonist through understanding of their circular language it isn't. Therefore she can change the presence by knowing the future, but still even though she knows these things and could have opted out of losing her unborn daughter, she chose to give live to her and lose her. Awesome movie, awesome performance and awesome story ( I think it's a short story originally ).

[@Hortonfantastic4]

42:23 say it once again with Feeling Spartan!!! She is right so much more than you give her credit for. It’s a partnership not a contest

[@ankoo439]

They use the bird as a practical air test. This is an old miners trick. They used to bring a caged bird into the mines for safety, and if the bird passes out they know the air quality/oxygen levels are bad and they need to get out of there. Birds are generally more sensitive to air quality changes and for example gasses, so if they notice the bird starting to act strange or pass out its a clear warning that something is wrong and they need to get out.

[@tamarasmith9060]

Yes! Because even with the advances in science in the last century we still have no instrument that can test for all the different things that affect air quality (gas composition, poisonous chemicals, poisonous offgassing from molds, & more) in a quick enough way to be a helpful warning. While all the scientific advances we have now are amazing, it's still important to remember that sometimes the "old" way of doing certain things is still the best!

[@brendanemarpee8418]

@9:39😂 Spartan: "What's all that cloud stuff coming off it, is that just the area?" Pudge: "I don't think so because that's quite low for clouds." 🤣😂🤣😂 Come on S & P!!! 🤔You never seen FOG before???🤣🤣🤣

[@Arthur-nr5ci]

I swear Spartan makes Pudgey dumber, lol. Like Pudgey will be on the verge of understanding it all, and Spartan will introduce all these red herrings and confuse her.

[@betteryourlife865]

And shuts her down when she’s right 🤣

[@user-wy1jx6if9j]

You truly give her too much credit, they’re two halves of the same simple brain, their cockiness and arrogance is what trips them up every reaction.

[@orphanedhanyou]

There are two characters working closely together, it's not rocket science he was the dad

[@isaiahbaggett5014]

I studied theoretical linguistics, and this movie was such a nerdgasm --- Also, in linguistics and learning sciences, writing is considered a form of technology ... :)

[@michaellynch9550]

It’s always surprising to me. How many people don’t realize why the bird is there.

[@girlgal180]

lol same, but i realized some people genuinely didn’t pay attention that much in school, no shade😭😂

[@TARS20]

Or you know, their country doesn't have mines that their schools find it unnecessary to educate them about it.

[@6kembe4orba]

@@girlgal180 I don't remember knowing of the practice of using birds in mines (nor we were taught in school) at the time of first watching "Arrival", but I immediately got the purpose of it in the movie. xD I must be hectapod.

[@fakecubed]

@@TARS20 Australia has a ton of mines. It's one of their most important industries and they're at or near the top of many different mineral exports.

[@kroanosm617]

Spartan is right. Even though Pudge guessed Ian was the dad. She didn't get that it was in the future.

[@frankenstein3526]

After the movie, you are asking questions and thinking about what the movie was trying to say ? Good - because good sci-fi is not about FX and CGI, monsters and mayhem… it’s about creating a different perspective for the audience to look at ourselves and our own emotions and decisions.

[@jamesreddington2885]

The ending always get me emotional, then again I have a soft spot for being able to take your whole life and shrink it down to quick memories in seconds. Make you wish you appreciated the moments you had in life and with people more.

[@LaMancha958]

The beautiful music at the beginning and the end was "One the Nature of Daylight" from Max Richter. A piece of music that always brings tears to my eyes.

[@boxmulla]

Me too, It will be played at my funeral

[@LaMancha958]

@@boxmulla I played it at my mother's funeral. 😢

[@etiennebrownlee4071]

I think this movie is more philosophical than scifi-action, it delves into the idea of why humanity is constantly struggling with wars and misunderstandings -because of how our language was built with so many traps as she puts it. Like how weak our perception of time is, how "clueless" we are as a civilization for not knowing what will happen in the future because of how linear we perceive time. So I personally think the visual Sci fi part of what sort of catastrophe will happen in 3000 years really doesnt matter much, since what concludes the story for me personally is that our civilization can now use the weapon to know what will happen in 3000 years, and that we can find and create solutions before this catastrophe in the Heptapod's planet happens.

[@rollomaughfling380]

16:13 Google the term "canary in a coal mine' Pudgey. They bring the canary, because if the air is spoilt, the bird will die first, giving crews time to escape.

[@yara5502]

Yes, The reason some fail to understand this movie is because they still think of time as linear, aka, past-present-future. But in non- linear time all timelines (past,present,future)are intertwined and happen all at once. No start, no ending.

[@patrikneperfekta7575]

If you want to like movies more, you shouldn't treat them like a problem to solve but a reality to experience.

[@wadestewart5504]

Agreed, they are very emotionally immature. This was a very poor reaction to the gravity of the plot. Like as if 2 teenagers watched it.

[@seekermel3079]

Nice callback.

[@tyronnemoosa4741]

@@wadestewart5504so don’t watch the reaction mate, not everything and everyone on KZbin is here to impress you

[@wadestewart5504]

@tyronnemoosa4741 I watched the whole thing to get the whole story. This my reaction to their reaction. Same thing... you can disagree with me but not cancel my opinion.

[@TheFireMonkey]

It isn't a conventional story so much as it was an experience. Much like Rendezvous With Rama - which has almost no plot, in the normal sense, just exploring an alien spaceship with no "answers" - just experience. This is the same. This is like going on a walk in some strange new place that is full of things you have never seen before. It's an experience, but the only "plot" is that you are walking and experiencing things.

[@gravedigger8414]

Denis Villeneuve is a genius! Watch ALL his movies! 🥰

[@raulruskdsgn7564]

The answer to Spartan's question is that human will now be able to perceive time like the Heptapods. Basically. We'll be able to see the future and avoid the end of humanity as we know it.

[@hint1k]

30:10 Spartan actually references a famous book:"Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus" :D

[@Yaktahbay]

At the start of the future conversation at the reception, Gen. Shang knew she had called him, but she hadn't yet had that experience. Remember that she doesn't jump backward and forward in time; she experiences those events in her mind in real time. And I guess he knew enough about how it works to understand he needed to give her the necessary information right then and there. That's my attempt at understanding what's admittedly a mind-blowing concept.

[@arraymac227]

Not clarified in the film: does the desire for more cows mean taking herds, or taking the land to feed them?

[@anorthosite]

One tie-in is the reading of the preface of Louise's earlier book: That language "can be the first WEAPON drawn in a conflict". Clues like that become obvious upon re-watching the movie. :)

[@Slippy6582]

Very underrated movie... It is such a unique masterpiece IMO!

[@Heru_Iluvatar]

1:05:14 Pudgey sees things more intuitively than Spartan does.

[@rodrigofoli]

4:28 This music is so BEAUTIFUL, it's called "On the nature of daylight". You guys also heard it in The Last Of Us episode 3, when Frank was cancer sick, he told Bill he wanted a perfect last day. That whole day montage goes along with this music. It also plays in Shutter Island. It's a perfect piece of music, so unique

[@Bladecelot]

Everyone else crying at the ending lf Arrival. Pudgey: Confirmed. I am right. Confirmed. I am right. Confirmed. I am right. Laughs through the entire emotional moment.

[@lynxvex]

The Heptapod's gift supposedly brought/unified the world together and humanity 'achieved peace'. And, as a thank you, future/advanced humans will help the Heptapods in 3000 years with what ever problem they may have. Also, the gift allows you to see the future but not necessarily change it; being non-linear, there is no more cause and effect. (Heptapod couldn't heal Costello dying, Louis couldnt heal her daughter).

[@Steelburgh]

"I don't understand... who is this child?" Me: Omg it hasn't happened yet! (tears up immediately) Pudgey: It's the future! I think I'm riiight. (huge smile and happy dance)

[@LeeCarlson]

Remember when Louise said that weapon could also mean tool? Language is the ultimate tool.

[@brianjamesthomas]

I think the human story you missed the point of wasn’t that she couldn’t save the marriage or daughter despite knowing the future. It was that despite knowing they would separate and the daughter would die, she chose to have that life anyway because of the joy it brought her. Like, would you, Spartan, have chosen to not marry Pudgey, if you could see that she would die of cancer in 10 years or would you spare yourself the heartache? The movie is telling her story that she decides her life is better with having lived some part of it with her daughter in her life, despite the grief she knew would result in the end. And her husband left her because she didn’t tell him she knew the daughter would die, and had got him to have the daughter with her anyway. He was mad that she took his agency away, and could have spared himself the pain by not having the daughter. That was too much for him, knowing his little girl was going to die before him. It’s about determinism. She’s not destined to have the child. She now knows what will happen if she chooses her current path and has the power to change it. So should she? There is no destiny here. Like humanity, she has the power to change it, via this gift from the heptapods. The reason they didn’t focus on what happens to the aliens and humanity as a whole is because that wasn’t the story. It was a beautiful story because it was a human emotional story. The reason there were 12 ships was because they needed to divide up their language across the world to get us to work together once we understood the language and what it helps us do. They knew to do that because they can see time like we can see spatial dimensions around us. They know if they put all the pieces in the right place across time, it will have the desired result. Like how we know that drawing a line between two dots makes a line that connects two dots. That’s the power their language gives us.

[@HalkerVeil]

Just noticed that Abbott waves goodbye after drawing on the wall with her.

[@jessiechen279]

"Imagine having all the answers and no one listening to you".....Poor pudgey😂

[@sweaquitygaming3549]

Shocker, this movie was way too intellectual for Spartan.

[@sweaquitygaming3549]

Pudgey absolutely nails her explanation at the end while Spartan is just lost in the woods.

[@dondumitru7093]

@@sweaquitygaming3549 I think Spartan had too much ego and was caught-up that Pudgey was faster than him in 'getting' the movie. Rather than celebrating her intuition, he attempted to rationalize why he was 'right'.

[@sample.text.]

So, the bird is the canary in a coal mine. If the air is toxic, the bird will start freaking out. Also, in the context of this movie the canary is also a peace offering. "Look how well we treat organisms lesser than us" kind of thing. (edit: 30:10 👊Spartan)

[@3dbadboy1]

Ohhhh, in her vision of the future, General Chang said he felt it was important because of his exposure to the their language. He started to see the future (and the past) and felt the need to share his private number.

[@rayhutchinson640]

A couple comedic recommendations for your science fiction journey are "The Fifth Element" and "Galaxy Quest" but I'd LOVE to see you two react to the frightening "Alien"!

[@sputnik90]

On your wondering about the heptapods coming is related to 'changing the future' for help in 3000 years, and how do the two events connect and relate: For them, it's not changing the future, it's continuing along the path of the circle. In the same way Louise both did, and did not, change the future with her General Shang message. Its a circle and it was both destined to happen, and had already happened. The heptapods were here because the events of the movie, and the future for humanity afterwards, were points 1 and 2 out of point 3000 towards helping the heptapods later.

[@tofumar]

Humanity can't be unified without the gift. Humanity has to be unified to progress enough to help them.

[@jarsky]

10:00 "If clouds are that low..." clouds can literally flow like water off the edge of cliffs and they can be quite low lying; it just depends on the thermodynamics of the area. I was recently away at a beautiful lake; and in the morning the clouds were rolling down the small mountain onto the lake. As for the ending; I really like that they didnt fill in what they needed help with. The Heptapods were basically giving knowledge to stop humanities self annihilation. By being able to perceive time as a circle rather than a continuum; humanity can see that the path theyre on will end in their own destruction. And by giving this gift; theyre trading it for humanities help in a threat to themselves that they know is coming.

[@Foxsterdota]

Still really hoping y’all will get to eventually cover the series “Dark”, with or without it winning a Patreon poll. I think it’s literally right up your alley and IMO one of, if not the best, SciFi shows ever made

[@ethanvilla4418]

Basically with the general's number, she's able to look into the future to see his number and his message to her, to use in the past to help solve the situation before it came to war between the aliens and us. Remember it's nonlinear in the way they see time.

[@steveplummer5779]

at 16:20 "Why do they have the bird?" well into the 1900s, coal miners brought canaries into coal mines as an early-warning signal for toxic gases, primarily carbon monoxide. The birds, being more sensitive, would become sick before the miners. Giving them a chance to get out or put on protective gear.

[@kroanosm617]

The thing that is so interesting to me is how once she learned just enough of the language she was able to access her own future knowledge of the language.

[@3DJapan]

Learning to read and speak at the same time: For people from the west learning to read Japanese can be hard because of the Kanji characters like 馬 (uma, horse), there are about 2000 of them. But when Japanese kids are growing up they learn the character and the word at the same time, so it's much easier. Every time you learn a new word you learn the Kanji that goes with it.

[@genichiro77]

It's one of my favourite movies and it did take me a second watch to fully appreciate how beautiful the story is.

[@jeremyhinze8837]

I think the gift was to help humanity come together, work together for once. Humanity will only be able to help them in the future if we are working together.

[@Goisol]

Dont worry, in three thousand years we'll find out what help they needed

[@TITARNYA]

Is pudgy neuro-divergent? The way she explains the complexity of taking a conversation at face value is what a lot of us battle with when having to talk to ppl 😂 This film blew my mind when I first saw it. Made me go down a rabbit hole that I was not prepared for lol Another really great film that is kind of the same “theme” would be “The Fountain” with Hugh Jackman. Such a great sci-fi that isn’t your usual sci-fi

[@Nimbus1701]

Language is fascinating. One of the penalties (according to the Bible) for men building the tower of Babylon was that they would have different languages and not be able to understand one another. I work with people who have intellectual disabilities, and many who can't speak, or sign. Understanding and communicating meaning and intent of wants and needs is a lengthy process and most often than not, is trial and error. There is a great episode in Star Trek: The Next Generation early in season 5, called "Darmok" and offers another fascinating perspective into language, when two species can not understand each other at all. Great reaction to a great film, btw!

[@kroanosm617]

They used birds in mines in the old days to tell when they hit a gas pocket. Natural gas doesn't have a smell we can detect so when the bird drops dead it's time to exit.

[@stevesheroan4131]

Because the heptapod’s ships are so large, they look like they are moving much more slowly than they actually are moving. That’s why nobody believes they can reach the 88mph they need to time travel.