Artsy, emotional ‘Arrival’ isn’t your typical sci-fi movie

First contact with extraterrestrials has taken many cinematic forms, from the cuddly (“E.T.”) to the campy (“The Blob”) to the catastrophic (“Independence Day”).

“Arrival,” though, is surely the first in which the aliens simply want to communicate with us through a series of intricate symbols that look like the sort of unfortunate tattoo you pray your daughter never brings home from Daytona Beach.

When a dozen alien spacecraft touch down around the world, Colonel Weber (Forest Whitaker) recruits linguist Louise Banks (Amy Adams) and theoretical physicist Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner) and heads to Montana and the site of the only U.S. landing.

Every 18 hours, a door opens, letting humans enter the spacecraft so they can stare at the aliens and try to communicate with them through a clear partition. It’s all done very matter-of-factly, despite the growing sense of unease around the world as reports of looting, panic and calls for war are briefly shown via news broadcasts.

It’s a slow, rigorous process, as Louise has to teach the aliens, nicknamed Abbott and Costello, the fundamentals of language, spending days simply working up to introducing the concept of a question.

Yeah, it’s a long sit.

As China’s General Shang (Tzi Ma) is the first to break off communication with the other nations, who had been freely sharing their breakthroughs, and leads the rush to war, it’s up to Louise and Ian to figure out what the aliens want in time to prevent all-out global devastation.

Directed by Denis Villeneuve (“Sicario”), from an adaptation of Ted Chiang’s “Story of Your Life” by screenwriter Eric Heisserer (“Lights Out”), “Arrival” is the thinking person’s sci-fi.

Villeneuve replaces your typical sci-fi action with emotion in a way that left many in the screening audience restless.

“Arrival” is artsy, emotional and comes across like the result of Terrence Malick having spent a weekend watching “Interstellar” on a loop.

It’s full of questions, though, and a definite mindscrew that will leave you thinking about “Arrival” long after your departure from the theater.

Contact Christopher Lawrence at clawrence@reviewjournal.com. On Twitter: @life_onthecouch.