“Annihilation” is a bizarre, yet absorbing experience-a Sci-Fi thriller has mutates itself with all the mutations going on. Hell, I’m pondering on how movie-goers will take it, especially since CinemaScore awards C+ to certain once, and “Black Panther” is breaking box office records. This is not for people who hate Sci-Fi; this is for people who love Sci-Fi.
Natalie Portman stars as a biologist named Nina, who grieves the disappearance of her husband Kane (Oscar Isaac) while on a unknown expedition. With no info on how and why, he comes back very, very sick with organ damage and massive internal bleeding. And then, they’re picked up by a government base: Area X.
Jennifer Jason Leigh plays a psychologist, who introduces Nina to a bio-dimensional effect, which they call: “The Shimmer.” They’ve sent soldiers inside, but none have come back alive. She plans a journey inside with other scientists (Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson, and Tuva Novotny), and Nina joins them for the sake of her husband.
Inside the Shimmer, mutations happen in everything-plants, animals, buildings, and people. This place also has the complexion of a rainbow shining off a glass diamond. All and all, Nina finds it hard to believe (“You can’t cross breed different species”), but this place answers what happened to the previous soldiers.
“Annihilation,” based on the VanderMeer novel, was written and directed by Alex Garland (“Ex Machina”). Here, he shows us how mutations can affect things, and he does it with the kind of art and emotions. And speaking on emotions and tones, the best performances come from Portman (intending to go deeper in the Shimmer) and Rodriguez (breaking down emotionally in the second act).
This offers the qualities I’ve seen in “Alien” and “Arrival,” and there are so many strange things going on, that people might have different reactions, based on how they view Sci-Fi movies. This is a Sci-Fi masterpiece.
⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
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