Three films in five years re-established that a science fiction blockbuster can be quiet.
Arrival
Arrival's central problem is grammar. The threat comes from twelve governments running twelve incompatible translations, not from the visitors, and the film spends its running time on the work of understanding rather than on the consequences of failing to.
Blade Runner 2049
A sequel to a film that failed commercially, made at nearly three hours, about loneliness. It failed commercially too. It is also the best-photographed studio film of the decade and has already outlasted most of what beat it at the box office.
Dune
Dune proved the approach could scale: deliberate, humourless, and confident enough to stop halfway through the story. The gamble on a second part paid off, which is what made the mode viable for other filmmakers.
What they share
All three are about people trying to understand a system that does not care whether they do. None of them resolves with a fight that fixes anything.