2018 Film Review: Annihilation (2018)

Directed by: Alex Garland
Written by: Alex Garland, based on the novel by Jeff VanderMeer
Starring: Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tessa Thompson
IMDb Link

Annihilation is all kinds of strange and unsettling, with well realised concepts and a backbone of internal human conflict, as well as a lot of the truly macabre. It's much of what good hard sci-fi needs to be, but with an enrapturing horror element.

The story concerns Lena (Portman), a biologist and former soldier whose life is rocked by the sudden return of her thought to be dead husband Kane (Oscar Isaac, deliberately much more muted than usual). As she comes to understand the nature of her husband's disappearance and return, Lena joins a team of scientists on an expedition in to 'The Shimmer', a phenomenon covering a large section of US coastline that many people have entered and only Kane has returned from. Inside Lena witnesses truly fascinating monstrosities and battles with the demons of her relationship with Kane, particularly the concept of self-destruction.

The film seemingly draws inspiration from Tarkovsky, most notably Solaris; little is as it seems, time passes by in a dreamlike state, and what we thought we could be sure of is significantly altered. It makes for a considerably thought-provoking experience, focusing heavily upon Lena as she grapples with the upended world, both literally and metaphorically. Portman is fantastic here, evoking strong emotion at all times that reflects her inner conflict as well as her military and scientific backgrounds, determination and curiosity tempered by doubt and awe. She's also given a strong supporting cast; none of the other characters get as deep a backstory and they come off as a little generic without that potential development, and the actors make it work. Particular praise goes to Tessa Thompson as physicist Josie, her meek and unsure attitude standing out from the rest of the group as wholly human and believable.

The meditative science fiction is interlaced with bewitching aberrations; the impetus of the film causes the group to run in to several kinds of creatures, beautiful, terrible and deeply troubling, each one more stomach-turning than the last, some subtle and some outright explosive. It's a really potent mix with the sci-fi that actually fits in to the narrative, and the resulting execution makes for some of the best moments in the film.

If there's one resounding flaw in the film, it's the constant flash-forwards. The film regularly jumps to a time after Lena's experience in the shimmer, which deflates much of the tension in the film, or stops the film in its tracks completely to re-iterate stuff we just saw happen on-screen. It's awfully placed hand-holding that doesn't need to be there, and only removes some of the mystery that makes the film so compelling.  

The Short Version: Annihilation is excellently made; ethereal, thoughtful sci-fi mixed with chilling body-horror, like Tarkovsky and Cronenberg made a movie together. The film is backed by strong performances and a dazzlingly uneasy colour palette that marks the dream-like nature of the story.

Rating: 8/10

Published March 14th, 2018