Annihilation (2018)

Running Time: 1hr 55min

Release Date: February 23, 2019

Written by: Alex Garland (screenplay), Jeff VanderMeer (based on the novel by)

Directed by: Alex Garland

Review by: Stacey

Prior to its release, there was some studio hooplah with Annihilation and whether it would garner any kind of love from moviegoers as Paramount said it was "too intellectual". They weren't wrong- the movie made me sit back and think the entire time I was watching it, but it wasn't a bad thing.  I admit, I felt a bit stupid at times during my viewing, but I appreciated that and don't particularly care for my movies to spoon feed me every bit of a scene.  However, as more and more people see the movie, I can only imagine how divisive this one will be but I can say with every bit of me- IT WAS SO GOOD.

After a meteor crashes on the Florida coast, an area called The Shimmer, which is some kind of otherworldly bubble, was created and is slowly expanding. Previous expeditions have gone into the Shimmer (never to return), except for one man, Kane (Oscar Isaac), who made it out alive but wasn't quite himself and is now dying. His wife Lena (Natalie Portman), a cellular biologist, travels into the Shimmer with four other women to try and figure out what exactly happened inside.

From everything I had read previously about Annihilation, I knew I wasn't going to be walking into any kind of simple sci-fi flick.  There's a lot to digest and unpack by the time the end credits roll, which could be to its detriment with some viewers.  What I left with was something pretty thought-provoking and at times damn frightening.

The movie is intriguing from beginning to end, but really got me once the women ventured into the Shimmer and began their exploration.  The visuals were amazing; from bizarre-o hybridized animals and human-shaped plants, to an ending that was all kinds of trippy. There's a particular scene with some wild ass bear creature that is able to mimic the screams of its last kill and it's downright horrifying. It's hard to imagine why anyone would want to venture into a possible extraterrestrial world where almost everyone who went in never came back, but anything for science, y'know?

 Portman in the lead was a great choice, alongside the other women we were introduced to (Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson, Tuva Novotny), but I just couldn't find myself forming any kind of emotional connection with anyone.  While Portman and Leigh were the ones you gravitated toward the most, the rest kind of were just there (and eventually cannon fodder). Maybe that was the filmmakers intentions?  Maybe we were meant to focus more on the world and ideas they were exploring?  I'm not sure.  I do know that Garland didn't exactly follow the book the film was based off of, so I'm sure some liberties were taken.  Even with the ending we were given, I wasn't too entirely worried for the "real" characters because it sounded like the things they discovered in the Shimmer weren't exactly nefarious (killer screaming bear creatures aside).

Let's talk about that ending for a second, yeah?

SPOILERS AHEAD, DUH!!!

So we find out that essentially everything in the Shimmer is a refraction of the outside world.  It's almost mutating everything to fit within itself. From it we realize the Kane we met, is not really Kane, but a weird entity that has mirrored itself to look like him.  The same happens to Portman's character but there we're left with a little more vagueness in who ends up returning to the outside world.  What we see might not be what actually happened, and that could be a downer for some people.  It leaves you with a "form your own conclusion" kind of deal.

I actually went straight to googling possible explanations for the ending after I watched it, and it seems a few people have a "cancer" theory.  Several articles and videos made valid points, and I'd be interested to see how close they are with those.  (Here's one article on the theory: http://collider.com/annihilation-movie-explained/#cancer).  I'm not saying I'm putting any stock into it, but any kind of explanation is better than none!

If given the opportunity to watch on a big screen, do it. Despite it's release struggles and somewhat complicated story, Annihilation is an impressive sci-fi movie that absolutely deserves to be watched and mulled over afterwards. I can say confidently that this one will maintain a spot on my favorites of 2018 list, for sure.

4.5/5

Check out the trailer below!