Annihilation (The film)
released 2018
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“Annihilation” is a science fiction, horror, adventure, mystery, American film produced by Scott Rudin, Andrew Macdonald, Allon Reich and Eli Bush.  It was directed by Alex Garland who also wrote the screenplay with Jeff VanderMeer. It is based on the science fiction book of the same name written by Jeff VanderMeer. It stars Natalie Portman, Benedict Wong, Jeninifer Jason Leigh, Sonoya Mizuno, David Gyasi, Oscar Isaac, John Schwab, Gina Rodriguez, Tuva Novotny, Tessa Thompson, Sammy Hayman, Josh Danford, Kristen MsGarrity, Crystal Clarke, Bern Collaco, Kumud Pant, Helena Holmes and many others.

Annihilation IMDb webpage

“Annihilation” begins when a cellular biologist by the name of Lena, played by Natalie Portman, is somewhat debriefed and put in quarantine after the military believes that she is the only one to come out of an anomaly called `The Shimmer´. The Shimmer is an area of marshland cut off from the world by some kind of membrane and spreading out like a virus. Nothing has come out of it and no one can see inside. It´s a big question mark. As it turns out, her husband, whom she loves very much, was sent in the Shimmer before her, and returns to her without notifying any of his COs. He is a different person when he returns. Lena along with four other women go into the Shimmer to discover what it is and possibly stop it from spreading any larger.

The story is as much an adventure into the horrific as it is a mystery that bends our conception of an alien invasion and species annihilation. It´s a mind bending journey into the definition of life and the ways intelligent life fights for survival. One important note to mention is that all the members of Lena´s team are damaged people with their own reasons for accepting what seems like a suicide mission. You have a woman who is an addict, another who cuts herself, another who lost someone she loved, one who is sick and Lena who hopes to understand what happened to her husband. I really think that those damaged women are the perfect team to discover what was going on because of their life experience and perspective. During the course of her adventure Lena struggles to make sense of things around her. She sees strange creatures and a morphing landscape that don´t seem to make sense at first.

One of the themes in this story is that of self destruction. All of the characters on Lena´s team, including herself, have some kind of death wish. In some ways they´re all moths flying towards a flame. It´s those self destructive tendencies that do them in the same way it did in the team before them.

This movie is beautiful and also horrific at times with a story that is so interesting. I look forward to reading the book since the books to movies are usually better. I recommend “Annihilation” as a must see whether you´re in the mood for some good sci-fi, horror or a good mystery. Enjoy!

Written by John

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