Arrival poster

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Streaming data from JustWatch

Arrival

2016 · Movie · 116 min
A

MEANRANK

81/100

Averaged across 12 ratings · 4.8M votes

Every rating

Platform pages last read 30 September 2026. IMDb’s figure comes from IMDb’s own data file, which we re-read about once a month.

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66–94 out of 100

Mostly agreed

Lowest is Criticker on 66, highest is Rotten Tomatoes critics on 94.

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Compare Trailer

When mysterious alien spacecrafts touch down across the globe, a renowned linguist is recruited by the military to find a way to communicate with the extraterrestrial visitors. As nations teeter on the brink of global war due to fear and miscommunication, she and a theoretical physicist work against the clock to decipher the aliens' complex circular language. The process of learning their language begins to radically alter her perception of time and reality itself.

Details

Based on
Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang
Released
10 November 2016
Country
United States
Language
English, Mandarin, Russian
Runtime
116 min
Rated
PG-13
Budget
$47.0M
Box office
$203.4M
Awards
26 wins, 126 nominations

This title elsewhere

Amy Adams

Amy Adams

Louise Banks

Jeremy Renner

Jeremy Renner

Ian Donnelly

Forest Whitaker

Forest Whitaker

Colonel Weber

Michael Stuhlbarg

Michael Stuhlbarg

Agent Halpern

Mark O'Brien

Mark O'Brien

Captain Marks

Tzi Ma

Tzi Ma

General Shang

Abigail Pniowsky

Abigail Pniowsky

8-Year-Old Hannah

Julia Scarlett Dan

Julia Scarlett Dan

12-Year-Old Hannah

Awards & nominations

See all 152 →

5 major awards won · 26 wins from 152 nominations across 46 ceremonies

Academy Awards 2017 Best Sound Editing Sylvain Bellemare Winner
Writers Guild of America Awards 2017 Best Adapted Screenplay Eric Heisserer Winner
Critics' Choice Awards 2016 Best Sci-Fi/Horror Movie Arrival Winner
Critics' Choice Awards 2016 Best Adapted Screenplay Eric Heisserer Winner
Venice Film Festival 2016 Future Film Festival Digital Award Denis Villeneuve Winner
Academy Awards 2017 Best Production Design Paul Hotte and Patrice Vermette Nominee
Academy Awards 2017 Best Sound Mixing Claude La Haye and Bernard Gariépy Strobl Nominee
Academy Awards 2017 Best Picture Dan Levine, Shawn Levy, David Linde and Aaron Ryder Nominee
Show all 152 awards across 46 ceremonies

Awards from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.