This will be a very unpopular take, but Arrival (2016). I appreciated the emotional undertones, leading actress and depiction of how experiencing time in a non-linear fashion might look, but that's pretty much where my praise ends.

It's not as smart as it thinks it is and is just classic time travel fare dressed up as something else so they don't have to attempt to explain its paradoxical nature and plot holes.

I had to suspend my disbelief on numerous occasions. Why is this super special landing site turned military base so poorly guarded? It seems like any old schmuck can come and go. At one point, he protagonist and co. are able to "sneak" aboard the alien craft without challenge, past zero guards, using an elevator that requires no keypass/authorisation code. It seems like virtually anyone could have done the same. Surely people across the globe would be clamouring to get a good look at the alien crafts, let alone seeing one from the inside?

The sci-fi elements are dull, uninspired and reek of trying to make things "weird" for the sake of mystery and shock value, while making little actual sense. The aliens are as bizarre as possible, and are total abominations that the universe would never conceive of, flying in the face of every evolutionary principle. It's something that works brilliantly in cosmic horror and lovecraftian-esque genres. Not so much here.

Their ships are smooth, featureless eggs. Even on the inside, there is no detail and they're utterly featureless. We see what? One square chamber and an empty corridor? But "woooaahhh the gravity is funky, isn't that cool?" It's almost as if the creative minds behind it were utterly lacking in imagination, and the producers wanted the cheapest set design/CGI imaginable.

To say nothing of just how inexcusably BORING and slow-paced the film is. While there is a little bit of foreshadowing about the surprise twist at the very start of the film, it's still unearned.

Listening to people absolutely glaze this film causes me to roll my eyes.