After you depart “Arrival,” you may wonder what you just saw.

I really can’t help you there, not only because it would set off multiple Spoiler Alerts as you read this review (and that would be annoying), but because, having seen the extraordinary film, “Arrival,” I am still pondering what I saw.

What might be helpful to you, in determining whether or not to see “Arrival,” is to compare it to other films so as to give you some idea of what to expect. “Arrival” is comparable to “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” (1977) for its scene-setting of an alien spaceship landing; “2001” (1968) for a sense of wonder as well as unease regarding the spaceship design and aliens’ interaction; “War of the Worlds” (2005 version) for the worldwide panic that sets in, and “The Tree of Life” (2011) for its “Who are we and why are we here?” philosophical questions.

In “Arrival,” Dr. Louise Banks (Amy Adams, an Oscar best actress nominee contender for the role), is a linguist brought in by the Army to decipher sounds and images emanating from giant squid-shaped creatures, who squirt circular ring-like blotchy black images as they float in their gray, granite-like ovoid-shaped spaceship, one of 12 that has landed, or more accurately, hovered, on planet earth.

At an ovoid landing site in Montana, where the Army deploys a military platoon and sets up camp, Louise is teamed with Ian (an excellent Jeremy Renner), a physicist, and Colonel Weber (always compelling Forest Whitaker).

Adams (five-time Oscar nominee: actress, “American Hustle,” 2013; supporting actress, “The Master,” 2012; “The Fighter,” 2010; “Doubt,” 2008; “Junebug,” 2005) conveys a palpable nervousness in her facial expressions and body language. Her fears, tensions and understanding becomes ours. The film begins and concludes with voiceovers by Adams. She and Renner have a perceptible rapport. And she is wonderful in scenes with her daughter.

Director Denis Villeneuve (director, “Blade Runner 2049,” set for 2017 release; the superb U.S.-Mexico border drug crime thriller, “Sicario” 2015, and the explosively-intense “Prisoners,” 2013) works from a spare screenplay by Eric Heisserer (“Lights Out,” 2016; “Hours,” 2013; “The Thing,” 2011; “Final Destination 5,” 2010; “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” 2010) based on a short story, ”Story of Your Life,” by Ted Chiang.

Flashbacks (or “flash-forwards”?) gives us impressionistic information about Louise, but not much. The rest is left to our imagination.

One clue is the emphasis on Louise’s daughter’s name, Hannah, a palindrome (word, phrase, number or sequence of characters which reads the same backward or forward).

Is the film “Arrival” a palindrome? See it and figure it out, if you can.

“Arrival” is a cinematic tone poem, a meditative experience unlike most traditional films. Cinematography by Director of Photographer Bradford Young (“Selma,” 2014; “A Most Violent Year,” 2014) is a palette mostly of blue and gray (especially for the mist-covered alien scenes) with an overall washed-out tone. Credit Production Designer Patrice Vermette (“Sicario,” “Prisoners”).

The avant-garde soundtrack by Jóhann Jóhannsson (“The Theory of Everything,” 2015; “Sicario,” “Prisoners”), with drone-line electronic sounds, stirring strings, repeated notes and percussive elements, enhances the film’s dramatic tension.

“Arrival” confounds our expectations about close encounters of the third kind. There may be another way. Arrive at “Arrival” to find out.

“Arrival,”MPAA Rated PG-13 (Parents Strongly Cautioned. Some Material May Be Inappropriate For Children Under 13.) for brief strong language; Genre: Science Fiction, Drama, Mystery, Thriller; Run time: 1hr., 56 min.; Distributed by Paramount Pictures.

Credit Readers Anonymous:“On the Nature of Daylight,” written and performed by Max Richter, is included on the soundtrack of “Arrival.”

Box Office,Nov. 18: Weekend box office results were unavailable because of the early deadline for the Focus section for the Thanksgiving Day holiday.

Unreel,Nov. 25:

“Moana,”PG: Ron Clements, John Musker,Don Hall and Chris Williams direct the voice talents of Dwayne Johnson, Jemaine Clement, Alan Tudyk and Nicole Scherzinger in the animation comedy about a young woman who sails to a fabled island and is helped by the demi-god Maui.

“Allied,”Robert Zemeckis directs Brad Pitt, Marion Cotillard, Jared Harris and Daniel Betts in the war drama about an intelligence officer in North Africa in 1942 who befriends a female French Resistance fighter and later reunites in London.

“Bad Santa 2,”R: Mark Waters directs Billy Bob Thornton, Kathy Bates, Tony Cox and Christina Hendricks in the comedy about a character actor playing Santa Claus who again turns out to be a real character.

Four Popcorn Boxes out of Five Popcorn Boxes