This would have wiped me out if it was in the cinema

Rating: 8/10 (9 June 2018)

Although I have finally caught up with Alex Garland's latest science fiction thriller, I am still irritated I didn't get the pleasure to witness it in the cinema, but I hope Netflix has offered the best of the experience.
Garland's previous film Ex Machina (2015) displayed an intelligent and deep presentation of science fiction, which is what you should also expect for Annihilation. Based on the novel Jeff VanderMeer, Garland creates a visual sensation of suspense and mystery, unfortunately robbed the chance to be shown on the big screen in the UK., however its distribution on Netflix does hopefully make a film more people to reach.
Natalie Portman plays Lena, and ex army solider, biologist, who Special Forces' husband Kane (Oscar Isaac) unexpectedly returns after being presumed killed in action. After Kane becomes ill, Lena is taken to Area X, a secret base which is monitoring a mysterious anomaly called the 'Shimmer'. which Kane has returned from. Now Lena and group of female scientists Anya (Gina Rodriguez), Josie (Tessa Thompson), (Cassie Tuva Novotny) led by Dr Ventress (Jennifer Jason Leigh) begin an expedition into the 'Shimmer' to reach the source of the anomaly, the lighthouse.
At the center of the film is Natalie Portman, a charismatic scientist a solider who's journey deeper into the 'Shimmer' draws us deeper into her mind. Carrying a determined personal mission to understand what has happened to her husband, Lena is a looking glass into the mysteries that the Shimmer contains. Opposite her is Jennifer Jason Leigh a puzzle herself with her own unknown reasons for the mission but whose screen presence is somehow misused.
But what illuminates and grips us into this journey is the stunning visuals splashing blends of colour and shapes, beautiful but also sinister. Inside the 'Shimmer' we find unimaginable sights nature and life evolving in a extraordinary but disturbing fashion when the team encounter various creatures and plants.
Carried through this excursion is also the unsettling growls and wails of Ben Sailsbury and Geoff Barrow's score. Sailsbury and Barrow's sound for my mind took me back to the loud drowning noises of Los Angeles from Blade Runner 2049 (2017) with the atmosphere of Arrival (2016). I wonder whether Denise Villenurce and Alex Garland get along in their common approaches to the science fiction genre. Annihilation does splendidly entertain in this manner as well as being a thought provoking concentration of ideas. The film journey to reach this may seem ambiguous to some and also confusing but fundamentally works in a stable form.
With Netflix's rise to power increasing, its a positive to see that they are getting their hands on strong material but still steals the chance to see something that is born to be a cinematic experience, which I feel would have left a stronger impact.