Enthralling, challenging, intriguing, beautiful.

Rating: 9/10 (17 March 2018)

Writer-director Alex Garland has always leaned towards intricate ideas that ask a lot but answer little, mainstream audiences be damned. So it's no surprise that Paramount Pictures got cold feet and sold his latest trippy sci-fi to Netflix for international distribution. It's a double-edged sword though: whilst it's great to see Garland's mind-bender relatively quickly after its cinematic release Stateside (a release here would've undoubtedly been delayed), this visually spectacular film would've been an amazing big-screen experience. To attempt a suitably informative plot summary would not only be futile, but would diminish the impact of the narrative and thematic Pandora's box so carefully constructed by Garland (adapting from Jeff VanderMeer's novel). It's as close to undefinable as a movie can get. Suffice to say; however, that we follow a group of complex women - led by Natalie Portman's regret-filled biologist Lena - as they embark into what may or may not be another realm. Toying with time, space and the very fabric of humanity, it is a filmic hallucination that demands your unwavering attention as it subtly weaves in and out of reality, keeping the viewer as off-balance as the leading lady. Moments of pure beauty are juxtaposed against sporadic bouts of visceral terror, the sudden and seamless switching between the two (helped with flawless CGI) maintains a high level of tension until culminating in a hypnotic and unnerving finale that is simply awe-inspiring. The meaning of the climax, as with the movie as a whole, is of course open to interpretation, while the emotional connectivity will depend on one's willingness to ride Garland's wave, but there's no denying the ambition - and dare I say, genius - on display. Annihilation does what every great sci-fi tale should: intrigue, enthral, provoke and challenge.