Denis Villeneuve directs Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner and Forest Whitaker in this tale of a linguistics genius trying to communicate with aliens making first contact. 

A hauntingly beautiful film anchored by a strong central performance by the ever excellent Adams and likeable support from Renner (his best position). Villeneuve keeps the background out of focus making everything seem hazy and alien. As always with these films worked around an inevitable twist there is that clunky scene that feels unnatural for the sake of the plot gymnastics working. But even this moment, involving unlikely phone calls, is handled as gracefully as possible. A finely crafted piece of cerebral sci-fi which doesn’t quite hit the emotionally grounded notes of the similar but broader Contact.

8