A missed opportunity with a brilliant first half

Rating: 7/10 (17 March 2018)

Admittedly I had high hopes before watching Annihilation on Netflix no less as the producers have suddenly decided not to release the film in cinemas in my country. Sadly, I did not find this to be an amazing film, it was good but I just expected so much more especially after being hyped up as being "Too smart for most audiences". Now this might sound like the film is in fact too smart but I just don't see that as the case. High concept films like this have a tendency of ambiguity and suspension of disbelief, in most cases I see myself as one who tends to be more lenient and overlooking of such absurdities as in the case of Interstellar's final act which remains one of my favourite sci-fi films. Yet Annihilation just doesn't do it for me.
I've heard and deciphered that the overarching theme of the film is this self destructive tendency of humanity and the symbolic nature of cancer cells in their ability to corrupt but also their existence as a natural biological error. Certainly an interesting concept to be paralleled with the symbol of the shimmer, the careful foreshadowing of the refracting effects of the shimmer and other slight symbols that the film drops along the way. However, by the end I can't help but think, so is that it? Now, obviously that final confrontation between Natalie Portman's Lena and the alien humanoid thing was absolutely insane and intense, there just doesn't seem to be that much of a purpose or message behind it. And unfortunately even the 'twist' that the film leaves us with of whether or not the Lena we see remains the same Lena as the one we were introduced to does not save the film.
However, this aside and the somewhat awkward dialog aside Annihilation was a very beautiful film visually. The characters were interesting enough and I very much enjoyed the slow burn first half of the film. But, as we approach the second half of the film when the pace quickens I just felt that all of that slow intensity just went away and we are left with irrational characters doing cliched horror movie character things. To me this was a missed opportunity but because of its amazing first half I believe annihilation deserves its praise. And, whether you agree or not with my interpretation of the films ending at the very least Annihilation is one that is bound to spark conversations.