Jumping on the bandwagon of contemporary intellectual science-fiction cinema

Rating: 7/10 (7 March 2018)

Annihilation is a calm, intellectual and surreal science-fiction film in the key of recent successes such as Arrival, Ex Machina or even Blade Runner 2049 to a certain degree. Based upon a recent novel by Jeff VanderMeer, it tells the story of a mysterious and expanding extraterrestrial entity known as The Shimmer that seems to transform, mutate and copy its natural environment. Several groups have gone inside The Shimmer to investigate the phenomenon but none of them have come back as all of them were apparently killed, killed one another or went crazy and got lost. One year after his disappearance, a soldier named Kane suddenly comes back home to his wife Lena. Kane doesn't seem to be himself however. He is emotionally distant, seems to suffer from dementia and suddenly starts to feel very sick. On his way to the hospital, a government security force intercepts the ambulance and brings Kane and Lena to a secret area near The Shimmer. The security force wishes to interrogate Kane but he is in a coma. The security force then decides to send one last group into The Shimmer, consisting of a worried Lena who is a biologist and has been working for the military for seven years, an obsessed and strict psychologist named Doctor Ventress, a physicist with borderline personality disorder named Josie, an alcoholic paramedic called Anya who has anger management issues and surveyor and geologist Cass who mourns the death of her daughter who died of leukemia. The five women set out on a suicide mission as they soon lose track of time and realize how the mysterious entity not only transforms their environment but also themselves mentally and physically. In a last ditch effort, the group attempts to find out the secret of the entity and annihilate it before it annihilates them.
There are several elements that make Annihilation a worthwhile experience. First of all, the film has a constant gloomy and mysterious atmosphere from start to finish. Secondly, the movie has an intellectual plot that makes the viewers speculate until the very end and beyond. Thirdly, the five female lead characters are very interesting in their own ways and their inner demons only add to the menacing tone of the movie. Fourthly, the overall calm film is occasionally shook up by a few sudden battles and gory scenes that never feel forced because they tell us more about the strange entity and the fate of the lost groups. Fifthly and maybe most importantly, the film is visually stunning. The animations, colors and light techniques make the extraterrestrial entity very spectacular and especially the film's climax is an unforgettable dream-like experience. Finally, the film's ending is quite controversial as some people might praise it while others could despise it. It's definitely something worth discussing. You should watch this film if you have an open mind for an intellectual experience. If you are just seeking passive entertainment, this movie is definitely not for you.
Annihilation also has a few negative elements of course. In my opinion, it's much too close to movies such as Arrival and seems to jump on the bandwagon. This might also be the reason why I happened to find the movie's twist quite predictable which lowered its intensity quite a bit. Even though I'm aware that this is fiction, I disliked the fact that five characters that would never be chosen for this type of mission in real life got teamed up together. Some of them, like the extremely selfish psychologist that would clearly need a psychologist herself or the overtly aggressive paramedic who is a danger to herself and anyone around her, feel sketchily exaggerated, even given the circumstances that the extraterrestrial entity has an impact on the characters' psyches. Some more subtleness regarding the characters would have suited the movie's tone better.
In the end, you might appreciate Annihilation even more if you haven't watched movies such as Arrival and Ex Machina before because it would be your first impressive contact with this type of intellectual science-fiction movie. If you have watched those two movies and others of its kind before, you will probably realize that Annihilation is inferior to those films and simply a good intellectual science-fiction movie. The visual components and the intellectual story are still good enough to watch this movie at your local cinema but the film's impact isn't as big as I would have expected beforehand.