Arrival Ending Explained: Language, Time And Louise’s Final Choice

Arrival’s ending transforms a first-contact mystery into a question about grief, knowledge and consent. Why is Louise seeing Hannah, how does the heptapod language change her experience of time, and what does she actually choose? This spoiler-filled analysis explains the twelve-part message, General Shang’s phone call, the causal loop and the circular design connecting the film’s logograms with its editing. It also tests the difficult ethical problem created by Louise’s foreknowledge of Ian and Hannah’s future. Read the companion analysis and evidence on TaylorTailored.co.uk.