Forward thinking sci fi with lots of ideas

Rating: 8/10 (4 April 2020)

I'm always a bit perturbed when a film which is clearly more courageous and visionary than a lot of others in both scope and vision is bashed by critics who would rather see one with just some good acting and a very predictable, cliched storyline. Enter Annihilation, a classic example. In fact, the acting in this film is pretty good, the story is reasonable but above all, the vision, concept and style of the film is where this pushes it well above your average sci fi horror flick.
The scary/action sequences were almost certainly the points of the film that were the highlights. From that hefty croc beast to the awesome lighthouse sequences towards the end of the film. Not forgetting the scene where they're tied to chairs by Anya, before the entrance of that mutant bear; this is one of the more intense scenes you'll come across in recent film releases. My absolute favourite part is probably when Dr Ventress explodes - just spectacular; and this whole sequence was quite clearly nailed by the production team.
The soundtrack was suitably dystopian, oddly beautiful and weird.
On the concept - I liked how we learnt more about the shimmer as the film
went on. Teased at each significant event with something else the shimmer does - both to humans or whatever resides within it.
So if you want some weird sci fi delivered in a fantastic visionary style, look no further than Annihilation.