Annihilation aims to be new sci-fi classic.
It does a lot of things right. But it doesn't quiet reach classic level.
The movie is based on the book by the same name, and is directed by Alex Garland.
The movie begins with Natalie Portman who stars as Lena, a biologist, a former Army soldier, who is the only person in her crew to have gone into and out of “The Shimmer” and survived, being questioned by military scientists. So we know from the beginning that Lena survives the Shimmer. The movie then backs up and explains how we got there. The Shimmer began when a meteor crashed at a lighthouse and surrounded it. This is now referred to as Area X by the military. But the question remains what is the Shimmer? As head scientist Dr. Ventress ponders, “Is it alien? Is it religious? Is it something else?”
Lena’s husband Kane is sent on a secret mission, and then does not return for a year. In the meantime, Lena believes that her husband is dead. She cannot get any information from the military about his statutus.
Until one day, a year later, he returns. But he is clearly ill. Calling 911, the ambulance is comondeared and Kane and Lena are removed by the military. Kane is the first thing to come back from the Shimmer and they want to know why and how that happened.
Because she is also former military, what did she know? Did her husband say anything?
So what do we do?
We send in another team. Why? Because the team leader Dr. Ventress, played by Jennifer Jason Leigh, has too know what is going on inside of the Shimmer. You would think there would be a group of worried and concerned people mentioning the increasing size of the Shimmer.
So the team of five women enter the Shimmer, Lena, Dr. Ventress, Josie, a physicist, Anya, a paramedic, and Cass, a surveyor and geologist. And at this point, only Ventress knows that Lena’s husband Kane went into the Shimmer and came back, the others do not.
They quickly realize how dangerous the place is, communication equipment is scrambled, they forget time, and animals and plants are mutating in front of their eyes. The gravity of the mutation is shown when an alligator attacks Josie. Lena shoots the alligator with military precision, at this point the team was unaware that Lena had a military background. While looking at the remains of the alligator, Lena learns that the alligator is a mutation, and seems to have shark teeth. An alligator with shark teeth, an unsettling thought to say the least.
The visuals here are enjoyable. I was looking to see what other new creatures could be created. These are combinations of organisms we already know, thrown together to make new things.
Director Alex Garland, creates more atmosphere than coherent plot. As the team travels further and further into the Shimmer tension rises as people are attacked and animals become more frightening along the way. As Lena gets to the lighthouse, Ground Zero for the Shimmer, Garland takes a bow from Kubrick's 2001, with a twenty minute scene with no dialog and only visuals.
I am not going to spoil the end. But Garland leaves the question open at the end, did Kane and Lena actually escape the Shimmer? And if they didn’t, who is it that did escape? Thus setting up the Annihilation triology from the books.
Final Thoughts
Annihilation is great look to at. It is different from other alien invasion sci-fi, but I don’t think quiet reaches the class level. I would recommend checking this out, but you would do fine by waiting until hits Netflix in March.
Thanks for sharing.