Annihilation Movie Review
Alex Garland really won me over with his last film Ex Machina in 2014. I love anything having to do with Artificial Intelligence so it was a sure bet that I was going to like it. It was one of my favorite sci-fi films ever so I was stoked to see his newest sci-fi film Annihilation. It’s based off of the novel by the same name by Jeff VanderMeer. This one is a little bit trippy. It’s set in present day where an unknown entity that’s called The Shimmer (that’s really how they refer to it) has swallowed a portion of the U.S. Several groups have been sent in to investigate but no one ever returns. A group of women agree to go in and that’s who we follow throughout the movie. The group consists of Lena (Natalie Portman), Ventress (Jennifer Jason Leigh), Anya (Gina Rodriguez), Josie (Tessa Thompson), and Cass (Tuva Novotny). All of these women are soldiers and scientists so they totally kick ass. While they’re in The Shimmer they encounter new animal and plant life that seems to be genetically altered. There’s a bad ass scene where Natalie Portman kills a crocodile (or alligator? I never remember the difference) and discovers proof of this genetic mutation. She’s constantly collecting samples throughout the movie because she’s a super intelligent microbiologist. There’s actually a lot of talk about genes and biology and I learned several factoids that I didn’t know. Nerd alert.
But we have to talk about one of the most disturbing and terrifying scenes in the movie. There are bears that instead of growling, mimic the sound of the last victim they ate. Yep. Things in The Shimmer are messed up. The team encounters a bear who sounds like one of them (I won’t tell you who because uh spoilers). Not only do they have to find a way to not get killed, but they have to listen to the sounds of their friend dying over and over as the bear hunts them. Talk about some psychological trauma. The sound these creatures emit is super unnerving so prepare yourself for that. The ending of this movie will blow your mind. I’ve watched it several times and I still can’t decide what I think it’s trying to say or what exactly happened. There’s a mimic scene with Natalie Portman that left me feeling really creeped out but the special effects are really awesome. I’ll just say that nothing is tied up in a neat little bundle at the end. There are a lot of unanswered questions that will gnaw at you for a while. But man, this one is a sci-fi gem!
Film or Movie: Film
You’ll like this film if:
1. You like sci-fi stories
2. You’re a science nerd
3. You like special effects
