The other appeal to the change is that it simplifies Louise's situation.

(There must be something especially captivating about this sort of character, seeing as Manhattan's spotlight episode in the 2019 show was a highlight of the series.) Past, present, and future are all going on inside her at once, and she seems pretty comfortable in this state of existence. It's sort of like how Doctor Manhattan operates in 'Watchmen.' Like him, Louise doesn't have much of a desire to change the future because she's already experiencing it before, and now, and later. 'I would never act contrary to that future,' she says, 'including telling others what I know.' It's not like Louise is a prisoner of time, exactly she might not have free will as we'd understand it, but she also doesn't have any desire to change any of the most painful upcoming moments of her life. The reasoning behind this is explored in detail throughout the novella, in both a scientific and emotional way.

'What if the experience of knowing the future changed a person? What if it evoked a sense of urgency, a sense of obligation to act precisely as she knew she would?' The whole third act basically centers on a bootstrap paradox, one that the novella handles very differently. The day is saved with a paradoxical time loop that 'Doctor Who' fans are deeply familiar with: Louise knows how to call Shang and tell him the exact words to change his mind, but only because Shang will recount the event to her years later. 'Arrival,' meanwhile, bases most of its final act around the actions of General Shang (Tzi Ma), the Chinese military leader who nearly causes World War III before our protagonist Louise (Amy Adams) uses her new time travel powers to change his mind. There aren't many details in the novella telling us how the other countries in the world are dealing with the aliens, but it seems like everyone's working together drama-free. Aliens still visit Earth and the main character is still a linguist trying to communicate with them, but there's not much sense that these aliens might be a threat or that the world might actually be in danger. The story's around 50 pages long, and it doesn't seem particularly interested in creating any sort of dramatic, ticking-clock scenario. The movie is based on Ted Chiang's novella 'Story of Your Life,' first published in 1998.

Arrival and story of your life