First Contact on Netflix: The Ending Changed Because of Interstellar, and Here’s Why!

Warning, the following article contains spoilers that may reveal elements of the film’s ending.

Since its release in 2016, Prime Contact has established itself as a reference in the science fiction genre of cinema. Now available on Netflix, Denis Villeneuve’s film, with a second installment scheduled for November 1, focuses on the fate of brilliant linguist Louise Banks, played by Amy Adams, whose mission is to decipher the language of an alien race that has come to Earth.

Between an intimate drama and an alien invasion blockbuster, this adaptation of Ted Chiang’s story, the story of your lifeReleased in 1998, it was praised by the public and critics, and in 2017 it has collected no less than eight Oscar nominations.

Of first contactWe remember many things: the original design of its spaceships, the soundtrack created by Johan Johansson, the photography of Bradford Young – the first black cinematographer to be nominated for an Oscar – but also its shocking ending, during which Louise learns that the invaders are trying to transmit their language to the future. Later, he manages, thanks to his visions, to put an end to the attacks of various armies.

However, the final act of the film could have been very different. To understand this shift, we have to look to Christopher Nolan and his Interstellar, another great sci-fi film that came out two years earlier and had a very similar plot.

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In Interview It was given to the media Collider In 2017, screenwriter Eric Heiserer explained:I would say the only major change is the gift that Heptapods (the name of the film Aliens, editor’s note). In the first drafts of the script, they shared with us plans for an interstellar ship as a kind of ark. And then interstellar It was produced by Christopher Nolan and we were like, “Well, it’s not working now” (laughs). We take care of what we had down Our eyes, namely the power of their tongue.“

The idea of ​​a future alliance between the human race and the heptapods was therefore always present in the script. first contact, but first, the extraterrestrials must provide humans with a means of space travel to come and help them in 3,000 years. Fortunately, this new idea does not detract from the beauty of Denis Villeneuve’s film, on the contrary.

Watch the trailer of “Prime Minister’s Contact”…:

… and its soundtrack: