Movie Review: Annihilation
From writer/director Alex Garland, who managed to lure science fiction fans back in 2015 into his superb, bone-chilling thriller Ex Machina, comes the independent filmmaker's latest venture into the mysterious and ambitious realm that lies between science fiction and horror. With Annihilation striding confidently forward not only with its unnerving premise (based on James VanderMeer's best-selling 2014 novel), but its predominately female cast as well, the daring thriller managed to bring a string of compelling performances, mixed with an eerie and unpredictable atmosphere. With dialogue that sliced cleaner than the film's visuals, Annihilation could make for a new sci-fi classic.
After her husband (Oscar Isaac) suddenly returns home from a deadly expedition into an unstable ecological phenomenon known as "The Shimmer", biology professor Lena (Natalie Portman) finds herself at an unknown research outpost dedicated to studying it. Drawn into the latest expedition into the highly-advanced environment, Lena joins a team of women (Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson, Tuva Novotny) that risk their lives to discover the truth at the heart of "The Shimmer". With their team leader Dr. Ventress (Jennifer Jason Leigh), the group ventures into the mysterious world, where they'll soon discover all is not what it seems in this ecological wonder.
Off its name recognition alone, I knew I had to see Annihilation right away. After a startling sci-fi debut from 28 Days Later writer Alex Garland in 2015's Ex Machina, the director found himself lodged in my brain as one of the most promising filmmakers of the year. While Ex Machina held a unique aesthetic element to it, its setting a secluded home where a tech genius has constructed the world's first human-level artificial intelligence, the film also held a fascinating thematic quality, its narrative blurring calculated dialogue with scenes of silent contemplation. Along with its wonderful cast, including Oscar Isaac, Domhnall Gleeson, and the film's stand-out performance in Alicia Vikander's riveting A.I., Ex Machina showed the world that Alex Garland was a force to be reckoned with. In his second feature, this month's Annihilation, I saw a similar contemplative ambiguity, one that told its story through cryptic dialogue and complex visuals.
While the ending of the film (no spoilers) might say otherwise, one of the most compelling things I found in not only Ex Machina, but Annihilation as well, was its somewhat self-contained premise. As Ex Machina spun a psychological study of artificial intelligence (and the terrors of it) within the confines of a secluded home/laboratory, Annihilation sought to fuel a tale of mistrust and the descent into madness through pitting its characters into a vast yet profoundly claustrophobic environment. Even as said environment blossomed with unimaginable scientific breakthroughs, it retained a vile unpredictability to its confines, similar to how the home in Ex Machina breathed a subtle danger. Annihilation, while it began following Natalie Portman's Lena as she discovers her husband is still alive after a grisly expedition, eventually dissolves into five woman trapped in a world unknown, surrounded by not only biological oddities, but their own withering perceptions of each other.
Even as Annihilation adopted a familiar science fiction premise of a group of scientists venturing into a dangerous environment only to discover deadly consequences, the film never felt defined by its genre. As I said before, the film felt most compelling when it explored the unpredictability of human nature, and the unforgiving consequences of going mad with fear of the unknown. While I can't go without giving praise to Garland and his team for crafting a visually-arresting atmosphere, one that balanced its minimalism with its ambitiousness, the film was most lasting when it tried to link an underlying tension between its characters. As the film explored a variety of themes related to science and society, Annihilation worked best when it used its characters and their dialogue to traverse its unpredictable landscape.
While Annihilation surely didn't produce that many overly lasting performances from its all-female cast, the Natalie Portman-led ensemble did have a few notable instances. While it was Portman's lead that primarily reeled me in, a long-time fan of the actress from her Black Swan days to her phenomenal lead in 2016's Jackie, Portman appeared a bit pale in comparison to the film's more nuanced performances. While a minor role for Ex Machina's Oscar Isaac (as well as Doctor Strange's Benedict Wong) was greatly appreciated, it was the other women on-screen that truly gave the film its edge. As Jennifer Jason Leigh slithered silently in the background, watching idly as Gina Rodriquez, Tessa Thompson, and Tuva Novotny fell victim to deadly paranoia, the crew of scientists behind Portman's Lena each provided something to unique to the film's disquieting atmosphere. As our perceptions of each character evolved throughout the film, not unlike the biological oddity they find themselves within, the performances given off from Leigh, Rodriquez, Thompson, and Novotny lent even more to the unsettling nature of the expedition.
Overall, I enjoyed Annihilation for what it was, an unnerving, claustrophobic, and contemplative sci-fi thriller with enough ambition to spare. Much like Ex Machina caught my attention with its stark premise that breathed unpredictability and chaos beneath its wondrous visuals, Annihilation held many of the same qualities. Beginning at its most basic level as a tale of a bio professor who stumbles into a daring expedition to save her ailing husband, the film gave off much more beyond what I was expecting. While some of the film's elements surely felt commonplace, Alex Garland provided a phenomenally dark sci-fi treasure that managed its priories really well.
I gave Annihilation an 8 out of 10, for its imaginative science fiction-horror premise, its volatile atmosphere of human decay and ecological wonderment, its superb second outing from one of the most intriguing up-and-coming filmmakers of the 21st century.
Off its name recognition alone, I knew I had to see Annihilation right away. After a startling sci-fi debut from 28 Days Later writer Alex Garland in 2015's Ex Machina, the director found himself lodged in my brain as one of the most promising filmmakers of the year. While Ex Machina held a unique aesthetic element to it, its setting a secluded home where a tech genius has constructed the world's first human-level artificial intelligence, the film also held a fascinating thematic quality, its narrative blurring calculated dialogue with scenes of silent contemplation. Along with its wonderful cast, including Oscar Isaac, Domhnall Gleeson, and the film's stand-out performance in Alicia Vikander's riveting A.I., Ex Machina showed the world that Alex Garland was a force to be reckoned with. In his second feature, this month's Annihilation, I saw a similar contemplative ambiguity, one that told its story through cryptic dialogue and complex visuals.
While the ending of the film (no spoilers) might say otherwise, one of the most compelling things I found in not only Ex Machina, but Annihilation as well, was its somewhat self-contained premise. As Ex Machina spun a psychological study of artificial intelligence (and the terrors of it) within the confines of a secluded home/laboratory, Annihilation sought to fuel a tale of mistrust and the descent into madness through pitting its characters into a vast yet profoundly claustrophobic environment. Even as said environment blossomed with unimaginable scientific breakthroughs, it retained a vile unpredictability to its confines, similar to how the home in Ex Machina breathed a subtle danger. Annihilation, while it began following Natalie Portman's Lena as she discovers her husband is still alive after a grisly expedition, eventually dissolves into five woman trapped in a world unknown, surrounded by not only biological oddities, but their own withering perceptions of each other.
Even as Annihilation adopted a familiar science fiction premise of a group of scientists venturing into a dangerous environment only to discover deadly consequences, the film never felt defined by its genre. As I said before, the film felt most compelling when it explored the unpredictability of human nature, and the unforgiving consequences of going mad with fear of the unknown. While I can't go without giving praise to Garland and his team for crafting a visually-arresting atmosphere, one that balanced its minimalism with its ambitiousness, the film was most lasting when it tried to link an underlying tension between its characters. As the film explored a variety of themes related to science and society, Annihilation worked best when it used its characters and their dialogue to traverse its unpredictable landscape.
While Annihilation surely didn't produce that many overly lasting performances from its all-female cast, the Natalie Portman-led ensemble did have a few notable instances. While it was Portman's lead that primarily reeled me in, a long-time fan of the actress from her Black Swan days to her phenomenal lead in 2016's Jackie, Portman appeared a bit pale in comparison to the film's more nuanced performances. While a minor role for Ex Machina's Oscar Isaac (as well as Doctor Strange's Benedict Wong) was greatly appreciated, it was the other women on-screen that truly gave the film its edge. As Jennifer Jason Leigh slithered silently in the background, watching idly as Gina Rodriquez, Tessa Thompson, and Tuva Novotny fell victim to deadly paranoia, the crew of scientists behind Portman's Lena each provided something to unique to the film's disquieting atmosphere. As our perceptions of each character evolved throughout the film, not unlike the biological oddity they find themselves within, the performances given off from Leigh, Rodriquez, Thompson, and Novotny lent even more to the unsettling nature of the expedition.
Overall, I enjoyed Annihilation for what it was, an unnerving, claustrophobic, and contemplative sci-fi thriller with enough ambition to spare. Much like Ex Machina caught my attention with its stark premise that breathed unpredictability and chaos beneath its wondrous visuals, Annihilation held many of the same qualities. Beginning at its most basic level as a tale of a bio professor who stumbles into a daring expedition to save her ailing husband, the film gave off much more beyond what I was expecting. While some of the film's elements surely felt commonplace, Alex Garland provided a phenomenally dark sci-fi treasure that managed its priories really well.
I gave Annihilation an 8 out of 10, for its imaginative science fiction-horror premise, its volatile atmosphere of human decay and ecological wonderment, its superb second outing from one of the most intriguing up-and-coming filmmakers of the 21st century.
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