Annihilation

Here's a new thing. I usually only put up entries for films that I see at the cinema (save the occasional 'best of' or some such) but as this streaming idea begins to take hold, I thought I'd join the party. The caveat is that Annihilation was released in cinemas in the US, Canada and China, and Netflix in other 'territories' so it's actually a ridgy digde theatrical release anyway. Not sure how to play it with films like Bright and Mute, which were Netflix originals (though not much chop). We'll see.

So, to the film itself. This follows a few years after the great Ex Machina and is imbued with similar weighty, thought-provoking qualities. It stars Natalie Portman and Oscar Isaac, both of whom are top drawer, basically their default setting. It's creepy, well-paced and it ends with some nice ambiguity. So why didn't I like it as much as I thought I would? Don't get me wrong, it's a good film. But I wasn't blown away. Nor was I moved at all. Nor amused (in any of that word's senses). Impressed, yes, even a little deferential (you don't want Garland on your wrong side, incidentally). But I couldn't warm to it.

There are loads of issues relating to the meaning of aspects of the film, many of which we get stuck into with spoilers in the podcast below. An alien asteroid has landed on a lighthouse and it's life force has spread, creating all sorts of weird and wonderful googly booglies. Suffice to say, the metaphor of the Shimmer is central to the machinations of the plot. This is the colourful, wavy zone that causes all the trouble and drives the story and characters. In fact, Annihilation fits nicely into the three-act paradigm of Thesis, Antithesis, Synthesis (read John Yorke's 'Into the Woods'). Especially synthesis, as you'll see if you watch it. Without giving too much away, the themes of self-destruction and evolution are explored while the relevance of the title itself has more to do with personal relationships than your standard sci-fi idea of annihilation. I expect Garland is happy to leave that to Mars Attacks! and Independence Day.

So ultimately Annihilation is a worthy, well-made and pretty unique beast, just not one that I could say I liked very much.


See also:

John Carpenter's The Thing (1982), Daniel Espinosa's Life (2017) and Denis Villeneuve's fantastic Arrival (2016). All for various plot-based similarities.

SPOILERS WITHIN PODCAST!!

Listen to "Annihilation" on Spreaker.