Annihilation does not make it easy for the viewer. It is purposefully confounding and unclear, allowing individuals to interpret what they will from its presentation of ideas. The film follows a group of scientists/doctors who go into a growing area known as The Shimmer, which is an unexplained, slowly expanding, ecological dome that sprouted on the Florida coast. While the characters are unaware, the film starts with a meteorite striking a lighthouse at the center of this area, presumably the extraterrestrial seed from which the Shimmer grew. Prior to the current expedition, the government has sent in groups of soldiers for 2 years, only one of whom has returned, in very poor condition. Given this failure and the risk of continued growth, they are now sending in a research group, hoping a new approach will prove successful. As the group moves forward in The Shimmer, they encounter biological amalgamations (horrific, dangerous, beautiful) and conclude that it’s essentially a prism: reorganizing and reinterpreting DNA to create something new. The film can be viewed in this way as well, bringing together inspirations from horror, sci-fi, fantasy and more: a sure-handed interpretation of Aronofsky, Carpenter, Soderbergh, Fincher, and Cameron, with some moments of Del Toro’s beautifully grotesque creatures. But it manages to take all of these somewhat disparate pieces to create something new and fascinating - focusing on how the characters react to these horrors and why they’re there in the first place. Writer/Director Alex Garland has cemented his place as one of the great sci-fi auteurs with this follow-up to his debut feature Ex Machina. Given that each character agreed to a mission they are unlikely to return from, the film actually presents discussions around the difference between suicide and self-destruction, as well as the various deficiencies and/or losses they each see within their lives. For me, this presents Annihilation as a deconstruction of depression, the causes of it, and the risks one might be willing to take as a result. Is this a constant state of mind or is it caused by circumstance? How is one able to recover from it? Is it possible to battle your own self to get out of this seemingly inescapable space?
The ensemble cast is almost entirely comprised of women, all of whom do well with their different interpretations of grief. Natalie Portman is a solid anchor as a believable combination of military and scientific backgrounds, while Jennifer Jason Leigh plays her stoic, mysterious character with an authority that comes from knowing the rules perfectly, but not understanding herself. Tessa Thompson goes against type as a quiet, bookish, fearful scientist who nonetheless searches for something new as she is consistently unsatisfied (the most overtly depressed of the bunch). Gina Rodriguez is also doing something different, as she is mean and aggressive, covering for insecurity and years of self-inflicted pain. Really, it’s an incredible ensemble of characters that are just different enough to have believably ended up together in The Shimmer. Annihilation is persistently ambiguous, reminding me of Mother! In a lot of ways. By refusing to explain itself and focusing as much, if not more, on setting a tone and characters as it does on plot, viewers are left to their own devices. The final shot leaves everything up to interpretation - whether the personal and physical demons have been exorcised, or just become a less visible and potentially more dangerous part of these people and our world.
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