Arrival Review: 10 Reasons It's An Instant Classic
5. The Sound Design Really Accentuates The Rest Of The Film
The sound categories at the Oscars are usually the driest (read: hardest to predict) of the lot, but based on the past few months there’s some really strong contenders. Even its biggest detractors found it hard to take down Blair Witch’s oppressive, picture-painting audio design, although in terms of sheer overall effectiveness the king has to be Arrival.
It's not just highly evocative, further immersing us a world on the brink and making the aliens believable - the effects of that are suitably strange - but keeps pushing us back to Louise's perspective. Scenes in a military helicopter or the alien ship are dominated by background chatter until Adams puts on earphones or removes her hazmat suit. The result is a rich and diverse sound-scape that is as spectacular and alien as it is deeply personal.