Telluride: ‘Arrival’ Poses an Awards Conundrum

Some movies require multiple viewings in order to be fully appreciated — or even just understood. Arrival, Denis Villeneuve‘s first foray into the sci-fi genre, which stars five-time Oscar nominee Amy Adams, may be such a film. During its first North American screening at the Telluride Film Festival on Saturday night, I struggled to follow what struck me, and many others, as a convoluted plot. Now, it’s a challenge to get most Academy members to watch a film just once, or to care about sci-fi pics even when they’re easily decipherable. So I’m skeptical that this movie, which Paramount will release nationwide on Nov. 11, will factor in much of the coming awards season.