Summary

• Denis Villeneuve's films, like Arrival, Dune, and Blade Runner 2049, are known for their smart sci-fi stories that prioritize strong scripts over special effects.
• Movies like Arrival and these other sci-fi films tackle big ideas and provoke viewers to think about the deeper meaning behind the fantastical situations presented on screen.
• Each of these films, including Arrival, offers a unique take on the sci-fi genre, whether it's through exploring communication with extraterrestrial life, time travel, dystopian societies, or the implications of advanced artificial intelligence.

Denis Villeneuve made his name in the science fiction genre, thanks to making several movies like Arrival. This gorgeous tale of communication, forgiveness, and understanding came through the guise of a first-contact drama. The movie stars Amy Adams as a linguist whose daughter died from an incurable illness when she was 12 years old. However, when 12 extraterrestrial spacecraft begin to hover over the Earth, she is one of the people brought in to help communicate with them as she has to make the toughest decision of her life.

Sci-fi fans never want when it comes to new content, and Villeneuve himself has made his name with movies like Arrival, Dune, and Blade Runner 2049. These all have something in common, as the movies tell smart sci-fi stories while also relying on a smart script over even the best in special effects. These movies take smart ideas and then place them in a fantastical situation, often telling stories that force the viewers to think about what they are seeing on the screen and what it means in the world in general.

20 Dune (2021)

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Dune is a little different from movies like Arrival because there are a lot of very expensive special effects on display in the film. This movie has giant monsters, evil dictators, and war battles where one alien race wants to conquer all others. Despite those differences, this is still a Denis Villeneuve movie, and it shares a lot in common with movies like Arrival in that there are big ideas that might even dwarf the special effects. Based on Frank Herbert's novel, Villeneuve did something that David Lynch struggled to pull off almost 30 years before, as it introduced the main players for the franchise and set up even bigger movies to come.

19 Children Of Men (2006)

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Children of Men, an Oscar-nominated movie from Oscar-winning director Alfonso Cuáron, shares a great deal in common with movies like Arrival. The filmmaker took a science fiction setup but then added a very human touch where the sci-fi was just a way to put the humans in the world into a situation where they had to figure out how to just get by in life. The movie saw 18 years pass on a planet where every human seemed to become infertile, and no babies had been born. With humanity dying out, one woman shows up pregnant, and a former activist is enlisted to get her to safety as everyone wants to get their hands on her, culminating in the Children of Men ending.

18 Dark City (1998)

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Directed by Alex Proyas, Dark City tells the story of a dystopian society and a murder investigation that leads in very unexpected directions. The movie is a strong mix of film noir and science fiction, making it very close to another Villeneuve movie in Blade Runner 2049, but it also shares a lot in common with movies like Arrival. That is because it is a smart movie with a lot going on under the hood, especially when it comes to the protagonist John Murdoch trying to figure out what is going on around him, making him a nice character to compare to Louise in Arrival.

17 Primer (2004)

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Movies like Arrival force the viewers to pay close attention to what is happening because it plays out like a puzzle with the story slowly coming together. When it comes to sci-fi puzzle movies, there might not be a better, more complicated film than Primer. Directed by Shane Carruth, Primer tells the story of two engineers who create a box that allows time travel, but with very specific rules in place. However, just as movies like Arrival took aliens arriving on Earth and told a personal story about a woman and grief. Primer refused to tell a typical time travel story and instead introduced the idea of a paradox that took science and physics very seriously.

16 Timecrimes (2007)

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Much like how a movie like Primer took the idea of time travel in movies and played with it on a serious level, Timecrimes did a similar task a few years later when it showed how traveling through time had unintended consequences that people rarely think about. Directed by Nacho Vigalondo, Timecrimes is a Spanish-language movie that sees a man named Hector who lives in the Spanish countryside and ends up attacked by a mysterious masked man in the woods. Just like sci-fi movies like Arrival, this demands a viewer pay attention and then pays it off with a smart twist ending.

15 The Vast Of Night (2020)

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The Vast of Night has a low-budget vibe that works in its favor and it takes a Twilight Zone-like approach to its production. The entire film is actually framed as an episode of a fictional anthology series called Paradox Theatre, and takes place over the course of a single evening at a high school basketball game in the 1950s. A radio DJ discovers a strange audio signal that could possibly be extraterrestrial in origin. This brings up an immediate comparison to movies like Arrival, another movie about deciphering alien transmissions, but remains focused on the humans figuring it all out. Also like Arrival, The Vast of Night has a twisty ending.

14 Sunshine (2007)

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Sunshine is perfect for fans of movies like Arrival. A crew of astronauts and scientists travel to the sun with a payload intended to restart it after our star begins to fail in this fantastically simple but cosmic film by Danny Boyle (Trainspotting). This 2007 film was overlooked in many ways, including at the Oscars, which didn't give it a single nomination. However, it featured an incredible cast including Cillian Murphy, Chris Evans, Rose Byrne, and Michelle Yeoh. Alex Garland wrote the script for the movie, as well as other movies like Arrival, including Ex Machina and Annihilation. When it comes to smart sci-fi, it doesn't get much better.

13 Upstream Color (2013)

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Upstream Color is an overlooked movie from 2013, written, directed, produced, and starring Shane Carruth, who also made the time-travel mind-bender Primer, from 2004. Upstream Color isn't another time-travel story, but fans of movies like Arrival are likely to enjoy puzzling out the complex story. In the movie, a man known only as the Thief seems to be harvesting a larva-like entity that has profound effects on the human mind when ingested. Profound effects. Who is who and what is what becomes a major question in the film.

12 Fast Color (2018)

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Fast Color is a movie from 2018 that straddles a few different genres. On one hand, it's a superhero movie. Ruth (played brilliantly by Gugu Mbatha-Raw) possesses superpowers, causing earthquakes. The film is also post-apocalyptic, taking place during a severe water shortage in the United States. But what it's really about is family. Ruth returns home, where she hasn't been in some time, to try and reconcile with her estranged mother and daughter, both of whom have their own superhuman abilities. It shares themes with movies like Arrival by having family drama play out larger than the fantastical ideas.

11 Under The Skin (2013)

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Under the Skin is a gorgeously esoteric 2013 film that stars Scarlett Johansson as an alien entity that comes to Earth to eat people. However, the movie is nowhere near that simple. Johansson's alien skins people and impersonates them, all the while driving around Scotland to find more victims. It sounds absurd, but it's haunting and dark, punctuated by the eerie soundtrack. The film explores the issues of identity and loneliness, without ever really providing any easy answers. Directed by Jonathan Glazer, Under the Skin has a lot going on under the hood like movies like Arrival, and this is about a lot more than just a killer alien, as it is more about living the human experience.

10 Ex Machina (2015)

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Alex Garland's directorial debut was a genre disruptor. Ex Machina was championed at the Academy Awards, beating out names such as The Force Awakens and Mad Max: Fury Road in the Visual Effects category. This bare-bones masterwork explores questions not only of artificial intelligence but gender and sexuality. Alicia Vikander's performance as the AI Ava is captivating, completely coming through in her largely CGI-rendered movements. Oscar Isaac and Domnhall Gleeson are a powerful double act as well. Perhaps the biggest draw though is the visuals from Garland, who is far more cynical and Kubrick-esque than movies like Arrival.

9 Annihilation (2018)

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Garland's second feature was even more out there than Ex Machina, choosing to adapt an existing novel by writer Jeff VanderMeer. Annihilation is similar to movies like Arrival, tackling questions of relationships and love, while also exploring agency, conservation, and the environment. Once again, this is a far darker take on the genre than even Ex Machina or Arrival. Annihilation is a psychedelic journey into a nightmarish landscape, inhabited by mutant creatures and slowly deteriorating sanity. Natalie Portman gives an incredible performance in the lead role and is put through the absolute wringer.

8 Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

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Denis Villeneuve achieved the impossible with this direct sequel to 1984's Blade Runner. The original film redefined the genre, and to many seemed untouchable. Yet somehow, Villeneuve crafted a surprising, loyal, and outstanding sequel. Visually the film stands on its own, yet at the same time, feels in line with the original. Everything feels bigger in scope, dour and dreary, and ultimately hopeful. Villeneuve's ability to project scope and emotion through this genre is shown perfectly in this film. Villeneuve proved in this and movies like Arrival, that he was more than the man for the job when it came to Dune.

7 Inception (2010)

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Inception was one of the most popular science fiction films of the past decade. The hard rules established by Christopher Nolan were able to add an understandable construct to this world of dreams. The sheer stakes involved were unlike anything before, giving weight to a subject that feels so ethereal. Visually speaking, the film is stunning, utilizing unreal visual effects both practical and CGI. The score from Hans Zimmer is explosive and emotional, and the entire thing is a somber roller coaster through the mind of Nolan. Similar to movies like Arrival, this was a film that took a sci-fi idea and then made it as smart and accessible as possible. People are still talking about the Inception ending today.

6 Ad Astra (2019)

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If movies like Arrival are stories about the wonders of possible life outside the galaxy, Ad Astra is the exact opposite. Struck with the overwhelming lack of extraterrestrial life, what is the human mind left with? While it handles these big questions about the universe, it also is far more concerned with interpersonal and existential questions of trauma, toxic behavior, and relationships. It's questions concerning these topics that are only boosted by the career-best performance from Brad Pitt and the unreal set pieces and action sequences. It's contemplative and heavy, but never pretentious.

5 Her (2013)

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Her (starring Joaquin Phoenix) is on the far end of the emotional spectrum of science fiction films. The AI element is far less important than the actual relationship involved. This is a romantic drama about love, trauma, and the possessiveness that comes with it only happens to be a science fiction movie. If anything, the science fiction elements are more just heightened versions of today's technology, and the isolation that it creates. It's a gorgeous film that embraces its science fiction roots, but because of its relevant emotional themes, it feels just as close to viewers today and is a nice companion to movies like Arrival.

4 Interstellar (2014)

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Arrival's unexpected time travel turn is a direct link to this space travel drama from Christopher Nolan. In both films, the protagonist has to suffer through the death of their child through time-bending means, but here, in Interstellar, it is through time traveling to the future. The film is often an echo of more abstract features like Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. However, the emotional core works fully. Both Interstellar and movies like Arrival are about re-instituting the hopeful vision of the future that the current cynical society has lost.

3 Moon (2009)

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Moon is a fantastic one-off science fiction drama with tons of twists and turns. This moon-based film tackles elements of agency, with a twist concerning a shocking cloning element. If anyone is looking for a fantastic central performance in a science fiction film, look no further than this. Sam Rockwell absolutely kills it in this movie, giving a funny and heartfelt performance for the books. It is also very interesting in that he is really the only character in the entire movie, making this a similar experience to 2001: A Space Odyssey. Also, like movies like Arrival, this is about the people in the sci-fi world more than it is about just the sci-fi experience.

2 Looper (2012)

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Rian Johnson is a master at deconstructing a genre. So to see him do so with this sci-fi noir was a game-changer. The film is the first in a long time to offer an excellent performance from Bruce Willis, who really captures the tortured soul of older Joe. The film is a tangible near future, feeling just distant enough for the escapism, but close enough to make an impact. Once again, it tackles a lot of the similar themes of breaking traumatic cycles as movies like Arrival do. But, where Arrival is on a much larger scale, Looper embraces a more microlens.

1 District 9 (2009)

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Arrival's vision of first contact is far more traditional than Neil Blomkamp's District 9, but there is also a chance his vision is even more realistic. Standing as a direct parallel to the horrors of South African Apartheid, District 9 uses its alien storyline to address the crushing systematic issues of xenophobia. But, this film is far and away more exciting than the contemplative nature of Arrival. Chock-full of explosive action sequences and humor, District 9 offers a science fiction action film that still isn't afraid to dip its toes in the more political arguments behind its story.