Cryptic and ultimately unsatisfying

Rating: 6/10 (29 October 2018)

A diverse group of women investigate a mysterious phenomenon, "the shimmer", a growing zone of scintillating opaqueness which seems to have swallowed up the special-ops teams sent in previously. Within, they discover strange hybrid organisms as they try to get to the focal point, the lighthouse where the phenomenon began. Although perhaps some kind of cancer metaphor, the film doesn't really make a lot of sense and there is little exposition. Despite tossing off technical cell biology terms such as 'Hayflick limit', the 'science' in the film ('refracting DNA'??) might as well be magic (even if the basic premise was sound, the developmental time course makes no sense). There are some outstanding visuals, notably the crystal trees toward the end, which reminded me of J.G. Ballard's book "The Crystal World". Overall, the movie seems to have stemmed from special effects in need of a story rather than vice versa - which, unfortunately, is not uncommon these days.