Frustratingly Disappointing

Rating: 5/10 (26 February 2018)

Annihilation (2018), directed by Alex Garland, (now famous for his 2014 directorial debut Ex Machina, arguably one of the best sci-fi films of the decade), is a visually enthralling work of science fiction that ultimately, (and I should add, disappointingly), falls a bit flat. To summarize the plot briefly, the film is about a biologist, Lena, played by Natalie Portman, who, with a team of four other women, (Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tessa Thompson, Gina Rodriguez, and Tuva Novotny), explore a mysterious phenomena referred to as "The Shimmer", after many previous missions resulted in the disappearance of multiple military crews.
The film itself relies on the concept of exploration. From the literal exploration of "The Shimmer" to the philosophical exploration of ideas surrounding humanity and evil, Garland is taking the audience on a journey of discovery that doesn't necessarily end when the credits roll. In film, this type of ambiguity and openness can be a great thing, but only if it feels earned. And this is where many of the problems in Annihilation lie. (From here on out, spoilers and specific plot points will be discussed.)
For starters, the film is structured by showing Lena's exploration of "The Shimmer" intercut with her character being interrogated about her mission when it is immediately revealed that she was the only one on the expedition who managed to make it out. These scenes of interrogation, at least in my opinion, take a lot away from the effectiveness of the film. In what was a very unique and mysterious journey within "The Shimmer", much of that intrigue was taken away by Lena explaining what was going on. If removed from the film, and we are left with just the mission, (along with some very brief flashbacks), the overall message and point of the film would still be conveyed, and more importantly, it would be conveyed with more subtlety, (save for Jennifer Jason Leigh's character shouting the title of the film in the climax).
Along with this, another thing that was dragging down the film, at times, was its writing. To put it bluntly, expositional dialogue was not a strength. All too often, characters would outright explain not only who they were, but exactly what was wrong with them in order to show the audience why they would agree to go on what could essentially be seen as a suicide mission. These moments felt very clunky, out of place, and unnecessary; almost spoon-feeding information to the audience in an effort to make us care more. You don't need to explain why a certain character always wears long sleeves. That can be expressed entirely visually. Don't just tell us that a character has cancer, show us. This whole tell-don't show, (or even tell-but-also-explicitly-show), aspect of the film, once again, took away from the subtlety of the story.
But why is this subtlety so important? The film, itself, attempts to be abstract at times, leaving the audience to interpret visuals, (such as the splitting of cells, or what happens to Jennifer Jason Leigh's character underneath the lighthouse), in order to shape your own meaning of the film. This is not a new thing in science fiction, just look at 2001: A Space Odyssey's final sequence. Speaking of 2001, the climax of Annihilation is oddly reminiscent of the Stanley Kubrick classic. However, instead of leaving the audience wondering what exactly just happened, it's more or less explained immediately afterward in Lena's interrogation. This makes the overall message of the film feel less effective, and, in some ways, feels insulting to the audience, assuming they would never be able to reach that conclusion on their own.
The film isn't entirely bad, however, as there are still positives to take away from Annihilation. For one, Portman's performance was fantastic and easily the best part of the film. At every point in the film she's able to convey so many complex emotions just through her facial expressions, and all praise she has received for her work in this film, I believe, is well deserved. Another thing that was great was the atmosphere and tone of the film, which was very consistent and constantly engaging, (and a lot of that praise should be directed to the film's director of photography, Rob Hardy.) But after this, a lot of the great things in the film are brought down by some caveats. For example, the visuals were great and visually exciting, except for when they weren't. The transformation of Jennifer Jason Leigh in the climax: beautiful, but the look of the rainbow-alien-shapeshifter: rather ugly. The look of the flowers and ecosystem within "The Shimmer": stunning, but the constant not-quite-lense-flares covering assaulting the screen when the characters explored the shimmer: not so much. Also, the score was quite good... except for when it wasn't. The strange, sort of warped sound of the piece "The Alien" that plays during the climax is chilling and a perfect fit for the film, but as a whole, the score felt very inconsistent and occasionally out of place, like the guitar music that is used when Lena is searching for the body of a missing team member.
Ultimately, this adequately summarizes my feelings towards Annihilation: it's a great film, except for when it's not. And, unfortunately, the film has far more 'not great' moments and issues than its genuine flashes of brilliance, and this leads to the film being, frustratingly, just okay, falling short of its massive potential.
5/10.