A breathtaking and intelligent horror-tinged sci-fi masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (24 March 2018)

Annihilation is the latest film from Alex Garland, the director of Ex Machina, as well as the author of The Beach and Sunshine. The plot centres around a group entering into an area that's been affected by a phenomenon known as 'The Shimmer', which appears to have come from space. The party are a group of flawed individuals, including and eventually led by Lena (Portman) whose husband, Kane (Isaac) took part in a similar mission a year earlier.
The film is visually stunning, and regularly skirts the territory of seeming like a dream, or a hallucination. The Shimmer is confusing, time is altered, memories go missing. As such, it also often descends into being a bad trip, or a nightmare. Portman is excellent and the supporting cast help hold together a compelling and often disturbing film, where little is explained and the audience are allowed to decide for themselves what is going on.
With this respect for the audience, this Apocalypse Now like journey into madness can be read a number of different ways. Perhaps The Shimmer bears a similarity to cancer and an abundance of life killing its host, which is mentioned at multiple points in the film? Perhaps it's an analogy for the destructive effect that human beings have on the natural world? Perhaps it's metaphor for the western opioid epidemic and how flawed people self-destruct (something that affects everyone one, as noted by Leigh's psychologist character, Dr Ventress? Perhaps it's a reference to the Buddhist notion of the interconnectedness of all things? It can be any and all of these things, such is the trust that Garland places in his audience.
Overall, it's a fascinating film, often beautiful, but with brutal violence and body shock imagery. The excellent soundtrack, leads from folky acoustic guitars into dark techno as the film descends into darkness. The cast are particularly great and hold together an often confusing story with a strong emotional centre.
The fact that Netflix is giving such odd films an opportunity to shine outweighs the minor annoyance that a film like this would have been great to see in the cinema. It's well worth watching such an experimental and odd piece of art.