Five bags of popcorn

Rating: 10/10 (27 February 2018)

When I heard that a sci-fi by the writer/director of Ex Machina starring Natalie Portman and Oscar Isaac was coming out, I was immediately excited. Then when I saw the trailer, it was the majority of what I talked about for upcoming movies this year.
When I saw Annihilation, I was hooked by its mystery. And as the fascinating events progressed I became more and more invested in the narrative, a story about how an inexplicable, supernatural event directly relates to the relationship between two people.
Usually cutting back and forth from the present to the past story is completely unnecessary, but it really aids Annihilation with its introspective tone. It also lets the pace flow, which mirrors the film: a vivid recollection of a fragmented dream.
Regarding the content of Annihilation, I'll start with its inciting event - "The Shimmer". This is an otherworldly event that goes beyond the logic of the human mind, delving far into the experience of life through a moment in time.
"It's not destroying... It's creating something new..."
Annihilation is a metaphysical movie. For a lot of people, it doesn't compute to much. However, I really connect to the content, what happens to the characters, and what they learn.
Change is a big part of it. The shimmer, in a very raw manner, is basically just energy bringing change. Immediately I thought of Dune during Annihilation: "Without change, something sleeps inside us, and seldom awakens... The sleeper must awaken."
And what they learn isn't anything set in stone either, which is part of what's so great about it. When Lena is asked at the end what her pure mirror God-self wanted, she admitted she didn't know.
Annihilation chalks everything down to energy.
The interior of the shimmer and all that takes place in it feels like the randomness and the inter-connected, yet apathetic hostility in how energy brings change into people's lives in moments in time. It taps into the unknown of what is felt in life; how it progresses, evolves and expands.
While the entire lighthouse scene is so amazing, specifically the part where Jennifer Leigh's character spits out a universe in its own is my favorite. Lena stands there, watching, and then it all becomes clear for me as a viewer. In and because of the shimmer, her character is allowed to experience the natural beauty, the infinite possibilities and wild hostility of the random, ever-changing universe. This is the essence of the shimmer, and the entire film. Everything it creates, and everything it destroys.