Unreal, insane journey into the metaphysical

Rating: 9/10 (18 March 2018)

Alex Garland has given us quite a memorable piece of cinema with this new sci-fi/horror work. The storyline centers around a former soldier-turned-academic who ventures into a scientifically mystifying and inscrutable zone of supernatural activity in the aftermath of her husband's troubled return from a mission into that area, which has been festering and expanding for years. She joins a group of fellow scientists/military personnel in the hopes of finally ascertaining just what the zone is and what goes on inside it.
Natalie Portman is terrific as the biologist whose core motivation is understanding just what happened to her husband (Oscar Isaac in a small but effective role). Jennifer Jason Leigh is compelling as a psychologist who is in charge of the mission that Portman joins. She is iron-willed in the face of a zone that becomes more dangerous and terrifying as the mission progresses. Strong supporting performances from Gina Rodriguez and Tessa Thompson add to the mix. In the process of the mission, questions of ethics, existentialism and the human condition are raised, albeit tangentially. Human frailty and its occasional conflict with scientific understanding also comes into play.
I found this film extremely compelling and even if some scenes were a bit protracted, it didn't take away from the film's effect or achievement. The exquisite visuals contrast sharply with spare but ferocious moments of brutality. It epitomizes a world that science knows quite well- the wonder and the horror of our existence and how we are sometimes left with more questions than answers. The film's vision of scientific rules being bent is imaginative but not overindulgent. Viewers who prefer something concrete and definitive in its storytelling might not take to this, but for those who like a film that raises challenging issues and is alternately placid and scary, I highly recommend this.
Postscript: I would advise the studio that produced this film to not conspicuously advertise the fact that it is already being released on Netflix. In my view, that really cheapens the release and makes it look like a made-for-television movie, which it is not. There is a definite audience for this, but perhaps not the masses.