“Annihilation” is impressive science fiction-horror for the mind

The science fiction feature Annihilation arrived in theaters this weekend. It’s designed to mesmerize, horrify, astound and challenge its audience, and it succeeds on almost every count. Produced by Paramount Pictures and directed by the visionary Alex Garland (Ex Machina), the film is based on the first book of the bestselling Southern Reach trilogy (Annihilation, Authority, Acceptance) by Jeff VanderMeer.

The movie boasts an excellent cast, including Natalie Portman (The Professional, Black Swan), Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight), Gina Rodriguez (Jane the Virgin), Tessa Thompson (Selma), Tuva Novotny (Eat, Pray, Love) and Oscar Isaac (Star Wars).

The story kicks off after a section of the Florida wilderness, for unknown reasons, begins to develop a new, bizarre and extremely invasive biology. The affected region, called Area X, is evacuated by a mysterious government agency called the Southern Reach. Despite their best efforts, the Southern Reach can do nothing but retreat in the face of the expanding threat, unable to identify or quantify the nature of this new environment, the border of which is marked by an oily, kaleidoscopic glow called “the shimmer.”

The world outside of the Southern Reach is so far completely unaware of the existence of Area X. Lena (Portman) is a professor of cellular biology and a woman deeply bereaved by the loss of her husband, Kane (Isaac), an army sergeant reported as killed on a covert mission the year before. Lena is shocked when Kane returns home, although he’s different and remembers nothing about what happened to him. Kane falls desperately ill and both he and Lena end up in the custody of the Southern Reach agency.

As Kane lays dying, Lena is interviewed by Southern Reach psychologist Dr. Ventress (Jason Leigh) who explains that Kane was a member of an expedition sent into Area X the previous year. Dozens upon dozens of expeditions have been sent in and no one has ever returned, until now. Frantic to learn something about the nebulous environment they face, the authorities have assembled a unit led by Dr. Ventress — it includes paramedic Anya Thorensen (Rodriguez), geologist Cass Sheppard (Novotny) and physicist Josie Radek (Thompson). Lena, obsessed with learning what happened to her husband and finding a way to save him, joins the expedition.

Once inside Area X, the unit experiences intense and inexplicable episodes of horror and beauty, all of them wrapped up in the bone-chilling weirdness of the place itself. We get to see a new world—very likely an alien one—in the act of its own creation, and Garland delivers it to us in breathtaking fashion.

Like all great stories, the journey is both internal and external. People can meet strange, self-reflexive fates within Area X, and they can be horrific, beautiful and haunting. Annihilation begins with a cast of typically damaged people probing a set of mysteries, but increasingly detaches itself from the reality we all think we understand. Garland is in his element as he pushes the weirdness higher and higher. The mind warp is so delicious that you find yourself yearning for more. After a while, you’re less watching this movie than you are simply lost in it. It’s been a while since I’ve heard repeated gasping from a theater audience, but Annihilation earned them.

If you want to see a movie that forces you to think — to ponder your own mortality, the fragility of our own ecosystem and the unfathomable otherness of the universe, delivered with stunning cinematography and shocking twists — see Annihilation. From the first frame, the story is on a slow burn. Relentlessly, it keeps the pressure rising. You know something big is coming. You feel it. And when the lid finally pops and everything explodes, it proves well worth the wait.

One place where the movie could have been improved is in the development of the expedition members beyond Portman’s Lena. We don’t know much about the others — Dr. Ventress, Anya, Cass and Josie — beyond their reason for volunteering for the suicide mission. Each has only one character note to play. With all of the psychological and emotional twisting going on inside of Area X, it would have good to get to know these characters better before sending them in. That said, the actors are talented and bring added depth to their scenes, so the problem isn’t as pronounced as it might have been.

That brings us to the age-old book vs. movie debate, though I won’t say too much about it here. Garland’s film is firmly grounded in VanderMeer’s novel but isn’t bound by it. If you decide to read the wonderful books, you’ll find a familiar story but not the same one. You’ll also have more time to get to know the members of Lena’s expedition.

Annihilation has opened to largely positive reviews, garnering an 86% score on Rotten Tomatoes. The audience score is considerably lower at 68%. That may be due to the weirdness. This is a movie many audience members didn’t expect nor wanted to stomach.

Critic Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times awarded the film 4 out of 4 stars, although he acknowledged that it could be divisive.

"[T]his is the kind of film where you might find yourself turning to your movie-mate and whispering “How GREAT is this!” just as your companion is putting the popcorn under the seat and is about to suggest cutting your losses and getting the heck out of there….Kudos to Garland and the cast, but bravo to Scott Rudin (the Paramount producer) as well. Apparently you knew a masterpiece when you saw it, and you made sure we were able to see it as well."

I loved the movie. And the books. Both are highly recommended.

Grade: A

Here’s the official trailer.

If you go to see Annihilation, let us know what you think!

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