Carpenter's "The Thing" meets Tarkovski's "Stalker"

Rating: 6/10 (25 February 2018)

This is Carpenter's "The Thing" meets Tarkovski's "Stalker". Other influences are "Avatar", "The Andromeda Strain", "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within", and "The Broken" (with Lena Headey). It's hard to come up with something completely original (like say, "Dark City" or "Arrival"), I get it. But almost nothing is original here (except maybe the "shimmer").
The acting is not bad, especially Natalie Portman (who's yummier than ever, btw) and Jennifer Jason Leigh (highly underrated actress, imho). Not a bad job in that sector, overall.
After the setup stage of the script, the plot becomes by-and-large predictable (including a few implausible decisions, etc.) The CGI is not bad...but at the end of the day if you "feel" it's CGI, how good can it be?
Worth a look, but probably better wait for it to stream on cable, etc.