********This review contains spoilers***********
Annihilation introduces us to Lena (Natalie Portman) a biology professor and former member of the US Army whose husband is also a soldier named Kane (Oscar Issac). Kane embarks on a secretive mission and goes missing for 12 months, only to return to his and Lena’s home disoriented and gravely ill. While her husband is tended to, Lena is made aware of his previous mission, an expedition to the mysterious, ever-expanding site called The Shimmer, where teams of explorers go in but don’t come back out. Lena embarks upon her own journey into the site along with four other female scientists and soldiers, Dr. Ventress (Jennifer Jason Leigh), Anya (Gina Rodriguez), Josie (Tessa Thompson), and Sheppard (Tuva Novotny) to solve the mystery of what happened to her husband.
To use a common phrase, Annihilation really puts the “sci” in sci-fi. It’s an extremely dense science-based story that may even pass Neil deGrasse Tyson’s famously stringent standards for Hollywood films. We’re treated to an opening scene of Lena teaching a biology course where she explains the origin of cells and how they expand exponentially, serving as the basis for all living things. Even during an intimate bedroom scene involving Lena and her husband, we listen to her explain the flaw in human genomics where our cells die causing us to expire as well, despite cells’ inclination in all other instances to expand infinitely. Lena cheekily muses that if that were solved, she could remain young and beautiful for her husband forever. Despite the density, both of these scientific anecdotes play into the film’s overall plot.
The film’s ending will be sure to inspire much debate and speculation in the weeks after its release. Besides serving as a compelling launch point for any sequel(s), the uncertainty surrounding it raises many questions. In my interpretation, Lena’s observation that the alien life form was “creating something new” ties into our last image of the film. While we knew that her husband was no longer the real him, we thought that Lena was herself after killing the alien that transformed into her mirror image. But, when asked by her husband if she was Lena, she never responded to the question. And when they embraced, the same shimmer that appeared in his eyes appeared in hers. Despite Lena’s success in destroying the source of the shimmer in the lighthouse, the changes she underwent within the shimmer ensured she would never be the same.
Throughout the film, viewers are provided with subtle hints by director Alex Garland as the plot develops. Once it becomes more obvious that the Shimmer is causing mutations that merged genes, we got to see an infinity tattoo that suddenly appears on Lena’s forearm that we hadn’t seen before. As the film continues on, we see the same tattoo on Anya in the same location. Lena’s aforementioned explanation of the fault in our genes has seemingly been overcome by the shimmer. Her cells forever changed by the refractive effect of the shimmer, she is now something other than human; something that can survive in perpetuity. Both the nature of the shimmer and Lena’s transformation are symbolized by the appearance of the infinity tattoo on her arm; Lena’s merger with Anya and Lena’s new status as an infinite being.
Annihilation joins Interstellar, Arrival, Blade Runner 2049, and Garland’s 2015 film Ex Machina, as recent examples of substantive, in-depth, thought provoking sci-fi films. In the middle of viewing, it occurred to me that we may be in the midst of a new golden age for the genre. Horror has been universally regarded as the genre currently in the midst of creative apex, and rightfully so. But with the list of science fiction films, along with others that I’m surely forgetting, it is now obvious that the same diverse, creative output exploring psychology, social issues, and culture, within modern horror is also occurring with modern science fiction. This is interesting to consider in light of the fact that Blade Runner 2049 flopped and Annihilation famously created a rift between two of its producers due its seemingly being “too intelligent” for audiences, which resulted in it being released through Nextflix internationally instead of in theaters. As the comic book/superhero genre remains ubiquitous, and blockbusters like Annihilation or Netflix’s other Paramount purchase The Cloverfield Paradox (which was also sold to the streaming site due to concerns over its viability in the current marketplace) that are more mature and don’t fuel toy sales end up going to straight to streaming, it is becoming more and more of a concern that there is no place for mid-budget, adult themed films within modern cinema. While streaming sites arguably make film more accessible to people by making it more likely the take a chance on movies that they normally wouldn’t due to the increased convenience, the unique experience offered by seeing a film on the big screen, surrounding by other people, with more optimal audio and visual setups than the average person has at home is a valuable experience that should not be thrown by the wayside. Films like Blade Runner 2049 and Arrival are best seen on huge screens with big speakers and cannot be duplicated outside of the theater. And ambitious films should not relegated or ghettoized for being more art than commercial product. Erasing these sorts of complex, thought provoking films from the pool of movies available to mainstream theater-going audiences shapes the tastes of those audiences into a palate that rejects offhand anything other than cookie cutter, easy to digest cinema, creating a consumer group that will have a deleterious long-term effect on cinema.
Annihilation is an exhilarating thriller that creates a steady stream of intrigue and tension that lasts from beginning to end. Portman does a fantastic job in the lead role as the focus of most of the story. The rest of the ensemble acts wonderfully in support, but the backstory and characterization for them is not as in depth as many would like to see and don’t add too much to the story. Alex Garland succeeds in creating a film centered around a team full of women without making it central to the story itself. His work in creating interesting, layered female characters that have their own motivations and successes outside of their men, both here and in Ex Machina should be recognized and commended. With his last two entries as a director, Garland is fast establishing himself at the vanguard of transcendent, cutting edge science fiction film.
Annihilation also does a fantastic job of reeling in the audience and immediately investing them in unraveling the mystery of The Shimmer, what goes on inside of it, its effect(s) on those inside of it, and what its source is. The run time clocks in at just a hair shy of two hours and the time just flew by due to how sucked in I was while watching. The film’s plot is definitely made for the curious and inquisitive; one must pay close attention and be able to keep up with the scientific terminology and theories littered throughout. But as discussed above, it should be every cinema lover’s hope that space for multilayered, adult science fiction with thematic depth remains within the film industry. I hope that Annihilation is rewarded with the support it deserves to make this a reality.
Image: Paramount Pictures
