Criminally underrated and superior to Ex Machina

Rating: 9/10 (15 February 2019)

I'll be honest, I really didn't want to like this movie. I watched it with low-expectations because I had been doing catch-up on "sci-fi movies I've missed over the years" and after seeing "Arrival" and being thoroughly disappointed by its failed attempts at trying to feel attached to the characters I kind of expected the same from Annihilation:
"Here we go, another sci-fi movie with a female scientist/professor who gets whisked off to some strange alien location to solve the mystery and naturally the mystery won't really be solved but it will be "deep" and open ended."
And... yeah... the movie is like that.
I would be lying if I said the first half of the movie REALLY GOOD or interesting. It doesn't stand out too much except for the good cinematography and the mystery doesn't appear to be all that complex. The characters are okay but they don't stand out too much as a lot of their backgrounds and motivation seem pretty standard: Dead kid, dead husband, I'm going to die, etc.. yadee yadee we get it. Everyone has a tragic past or future. However, the big difference between this movie and Arrival is that I legitimately CARED about our protagonist's relationship with her husband. The movie gave us reasons to believe they have/had a good relationship and that this relationship is something worth fighting for. I understand our protagonist.
The movie chugs along with nothing too interesting happening, but then the final act comes along...
The ending of this movie is why you should watch this film.
Everything about this ending is perfect and makes the film work as a whole. It symbolically and literally encapsulates all of the themes and ideas that have been built up throughout the film and the way it tells you this is through visuals alone and little to no dialogue.
Fortunately, this movie has a bunch of little hidden clues in it if you watch it a second time. Certain elements that seemed weird on the first watch through now make a bit more sense on the second. It's kind of like watching The Prestige (though not as big of a twist) where you are looking for all the little clues and what not.
Go watch this movie.