Bizarre and captivating

Rating: 7/10 (22 February 2020)

This review contains spoilers.
Annihilation is a science fiction horror movie that premiered in 2018. The movie is directed by Alex Garland and is based on the novel Annihilation written by Jeff VanderMeer. The movie stars Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, and Tessa Thompson. A mysterious zone known as the Shimmer appears in the United States causing a small group to launch a scientific expedition into the zone.
Annihilation is first and foremost a beautiful movie. There are gorgeous visuals as the expeditionary force go into the Shimmer. In addition the soundtrack reflects the strange nature of the zone as the group go deeper and deeper into the origination point. This is one of the strongest points of the movie as we see how the zone is so peculiar. The movie is gorgeous across its 115 minutes of running time.
The movie falters in being too open to interpretation. The entire Shimmer zone is stated to be dangerous and yet Lena is able to survive the encounters. The Shimmer zone appears to be dream-like to humans which take on a nightmarish aspect during nighttime. There are plot points and visuals that are never explained or glanced over in a few seconds of running time. As a viewer, I did not fault this on the movie. However there were some interesting items in the plot that were not explained. A lot of these are how Lena and Ventress was able to escape herself refracting in the Shimmer. In addition, the time dilation aspect of the movie was never explained. The movie throws many science fiction ideas into the zone and does not explain them.
The movie is well acted by its leads. Although bland in its execution, the actresses did well enough to show the chaotic nature of the zone having on their mental state.
I would recommend Annihilation.
Grade: BBizarre and captivating
This review contains spoilers.
Annihilation is a science fiction horror movie that premiered in 2018. The movie is directed by Alex Garland and is based on the novel Annihilation written by Jeff VanderMeer. The movie stars Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, and Tessa Thompson. A mysterious zone known as the Shimmer appears in the United States causing a small group to launch a scientific expedition into the zone.
Annihilation is first and foremost a beautiful movie. There are gorgeous visuals as the expeditionary force go into the Shimmer. In addition the soundtrack reflects the strange nature of the zone as the group go deeper and deeper into the origination point. This is one of the strongest points of the movie as we see how the zone is so peculiar. The movie is gorgeous across its 115 minutes of running time.
The movie falters in being too open to interpretation. The entire Shimmer zone is stated to be dangerous and yet Lena is able to survive the encounters. The Shimmer zone appears to be dream-like to humans which take on a nightmarish aspect during nighttime. There are plot points and visuals that are never explained or glanced over in a few seconds of running time. As a viewer, I did not fault this on the movie. However there were some interesting items in the plot that were not explained. A lot of these are how Lena and Ventress was able to escape herself refracting in the Shimmer. In addition, the time dilation aspect of the movie was never explained. The movie throws many science fiction ideas into the zone and does not explain them.
The movie is well acted by its leads. Although bland in its execution, the actresses did well enough to show the chaotic nature of the zone having on their mental state.
I would recommend Annihilation.
Grade: B