Respond to these rapid questions in our Annihilation quiz and we will tell you which Annihilation character you are. Play it now.
“Annihilation,” a visionary and unsettling sci-fi film directed by Alex Garland, does not fit neatly into the same categories as so many other recent films in what has been a sci-fi genre boom of late. Sci-fi is everywhere in the late ’10s, whether it’s in blockbuster films like “Blade Runner 2049” or in Netflix originals like “Mute” and “The Cloverfield Paradox.” Most of it can be attributed to a combination of films like Stanley Kubrick’s “2001,” Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner,” and the Wachowskis’ “The Matrix.” There are very few films made today that are based on Tarkovsky films such as “Solaris” or “Stalker,” films that used science fiction in a discomfiting and emotional register, even within this resurgence. This is because that kind of filmmaking is extremely difficult to pull off. Indeed, it’s so difficult that when Paramount saw “Annihilation,” they had no idea what to do with it. They barely promoted it, kept it from the press until a few days before release, and then sold it to Netflix for international release in the United States. Perhaps they’re still stinging from the failure of “mother!” but they’re burying a genre gem here, an ambitious, challenging piece of work that will be discussed for years to come. Don’t miss out on this opportunity.
An object that appears to be a meteor strikes a lighthouse in the opening sequence of “Annihilation.” We’ll fast forward to a woman being interrogated by a man dressed in a hazmat suit, we’ll assume. Despite the fact that they are not in the same room as her, people are watching the interrogation through glass and wearing protective masks. What is the identity of this woman? What is it about her that everyone treats her like a biohazard?
Again, we presume, we’ll be transported back in time to a time before Lena (Natalie Portman) was possibly radioactive. When he walks up the stairs and into her bedroom, Lena, a successful biologist, appears to be on the verge of getting over the loss of her missing husband, who has been missing on a covert mission for a year and is presumed dead—when he walks up the stairs and into her bedroom. Despite the fact that Kane (Oscar Isaac) is at home, there is an immediate sense that something is wrong. When Garland shows us a playful, smiling Kane in the past, we the viewers are able to recognize that something is wrong with the dead-eyed man in front of Lena as well. With a quick scene, line, flashback, or other piece of information, Garland gives us exactly what we need to process and analyze the action in front of us while also keeping us one step ahead, creating an eagerness on our part to catch up with him. Then Kane starts spitting blood on the ground.
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Soon after, Lena is transported to a location known as the Southern Reach, which is a research facility located a few miles away from the lighthouse seen in the opening shot. An eerie rainbow wall can be seen on the horizon, close to a tree line, which she describes as “a rainbow wall.” ‘The Shimmer,’ Dr. Ventress (Jennifer Jason Leigh) informs her, is a term used to describe the phenomenon, and that they have been looking into it for three years. There have been no radio transmissions from beyond The Shimmer, and no manned missions have returned with a survivor… until her husband. The assumption is that there is something in there that kills people or that people go insane and kill each other in the process. Lena, Dr. Ventress, and three others—tough-talking Anya (Gina Rodriguez), shy Josie (Tessa Thompson), and sweet Cass (Tuva Novotny)—will venture into The Shimmer, make it to the lighthouse, and then return to the surface world. Maybe.
Annihilation Quiz
If you’re wondering how much of the review has been spoiled so far, the answer is almost nothing at this point in the process. Once the team crosses the threshold into the woods, “Annihilation” takes on a life of its own. The setting is a fascinating one for a science-fiction film that reveals itself gradually. However, despite the fact that we are not on an alien planet, there is a sense of danger and some sort of biological aberration in these woods. Garland reveals just enough information at each turn to keep us guessing while also keeping us immersed in the present with Lena and the crew. We are engaged in each interaction, believing the danger as it unfolds, as the film strikes a balance between disorientation and grounded performances from its cast. “Annihilation” could have easily devolved into something campy or ridiculous. If I described some of the film’s scariest scenes, you might laugh, but Garland manages to keep the craziness under control, and witnessing that delicate balancing act can be invigorating to watch.
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A major challenge in “Annihilation” is keeping the tone and making the action relatable enough to avoid the piece devolving into something that can be brushed aside as trivial. “Ex Machina” cinematographer Rob Hardy, who also worked on the film, collaborates with Garland to make use of the natural world in the same way that the pair did with the sleek lines and reflections of the lab in their previous work. Also noteworthy is the spectacular sound design, which, particularly during the climax, keeps us disoriented and terrified with atonal noises that almost seem to be collapsing in on themselves. Most importantly, the visual presentation of information in “Annihilation” is crucial to the film’s artistic success. A common technique he uses is to show us one thing and then subvert it with the next image, which is an ambitious but effective way of telling a story about duality and corruption. There’s also a centerpiece scene involving an attack at night that is, in terms of design and direction, one of the most terrifying things I’ve ever witnessed on screen. It reminded me of the first time in John Carpenter’s “The Thing” when it becomes clear that everyone is almost certainly going to die.
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It’s true that the structure of “Annihilation” frustrated me at times (although I’m eager to see it again to see if my dissatisfaction fades away)—flashbacks within flashbacks are a common occurrence—and I’m not convinced that Garland’s final act is as effective as it could be. “Annihilation” suffers from an inherent problem in that the journey is almost always more engaging and interesting than the destination, and this is especially true of mission films. Answers are preferable to questions in terms of artistic expression. Garland, on the other hand, leaves enough room for debate that the piece is saved on an artistic level. And it is in those final scenes that he creates some of his most arresting visual effects.
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“Annihilation” is a difficult film to talk about in depth. There will be different interpretations of the film depending on who is watching it and how engaged they are with the material. It’s about self-destruction, evolution, biology, co-dependence, and the realization that we can no longer trust our own bodies, which is the most terrifying realization of all. It’s meant to linger in your thoughts and haunt your dreams for days on end. It’s one of the best sci-fi films to come out of the recent wave of releases.
For more personality quizzes check this: The Spy Who Dumped Me Quiz.
