Annihilation - B

​Quick Hit: Heady, provocative science fiction.

Make no mistake – I think there will be certain people that leave the theater once Alex Garland’s newest science fiction creation reaches its climax. It’s an extremely divisive ending, one that left me holding on to thoughts of it for days afterward. Barring a second viewing, I doubt that I’ll be able to stop thinking about it. However, outside of the ending is crafted a solid adaptation (if a bit streamlined) of Jeff Vandermeer’s novel.

Recommended to me by previous “Dinner and a Movie” writer Ryan, Annihilation (the book) is part one of the Southern Reach Trilogy. It’s an extremely weird series that focuses deep into the psychological surrounding Area X, an area that is cordoned off somehow. When I was told that this was being adapated into a movie, I was skeptical, to say the least. I wasn’t sure how the movie would translate to the screen. When I heard that the director of Ex-Machina was attached, I got a little excited. And when Natalie Portman was set to star, I was sold because of her past involvement in projects like The Black Swan.

And while the film doesn’t do justice to certain elements of the book, like the intense psychological implications, the film has matched the level of weirdness and strangeness that the novel began. 

Shortly after the beginning of the film, an innate sense of wrongness envelops Annihilation. I don’t think it’s possible to point to a single moment that tips the scales, but before long it fills the screen, after the women enter The Shimmer. Once inside Area X, colors spring to the screen in vibrant arrays. Animals appear to be nearly bleached of color, almost as if the plants have taken all the color from them. Along with that, throughout the film, Garland plays with the eye levels that the camera is at, frequently changing the style of his approach on his leading ladies.

There’re five women heading in, all for different reasons. We have our stock characters, including Portman’s Lena. She’s there for us project on to, and I honestly think her storyline is a bit dull. But I’ll get to that in a moment. For me, the standout performances were Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight) as Dr. Ventress, and Gina Rodriguez (Jane the Virgin). Whilst all the characters in the film carry a bit of aloofness, none is more successful than Dr. Ventress, whose motivations seem to be nearly as complex as Area X itself. Gina Rodriguez is the only character that is given much else to do besides Portman, and Rodriguez steps up and takes her character above the cliché that she was written.

I honestly think the one thing I didn’t like, besides having characters that were a bit stock, was the way Portman’s story was handled. I understand the need to tell pieces of it in flashback, but it just seemed like such a gimmick. It was filled with things that I felt didn’t flow with the rest of the story, and each time we flashed back, I felt it killed any momentum that was going on in Area X. Once or twice doesn’t matter, but having four or five flashbacks really hurt the story overall.

Before I get to the finale, I have to mention the creature design. HOLY CRAP. The gator, seen briefly in promotional shots and the trailer is a tense bit of time, but ultimately just looks like a white gator. The other creature is absolutely terrifying. The idea of an echo like that is something that Stephen King could have written. The scene featuring it is tense and taught, with never a moment that you feel relieved. And the gore that comes from these moments is believable and intense. I will inevitably have that creature in my nightmares.
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I have to discuss the finale, feel free to skip to the final paragraph for the rating. 

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This is another of those moments where the only expression can be “What did I just watch?”. Lena is confronted with something of alien design that completely mimics her, something that also copied her husband, before the ultimate destruction of the lighthouse. This is an entire visual spectacle, filled with extreme color that is almost blinding. Garland’s influences are obvious here – the entire sequence reminds me of the Star Child from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Just as I expect that ending was divisive to those in 1968, I expect this one to be extremely divisive now.

But the best part is the sound. An extreme bass sound that pushes further and further, it had been evident throughout the film whenever the Shimmer was mentioned or in mind. Here we get an absolute crescendo that fills every available space within the theatre and within your body. It’s deafening in the best way possible, and if you choose to watch this movie, ensure it’s in the loudest one possible. 

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All in all, Annihilation will probably prove a cult hit, in time. Much like many good science fiction films, the headier, more thought provoking elements will lead it to be watched again and again, leading to a status of good science fiction. While I don’t think it approaches Ex-Machina, I think it’s a very good film that could have been extremely great if it approached Lena’s story differently. I’m going to give it a “B”.

For more on this film, check out IMDB.