Spoiler Alert! If you haven’t seen this movie and you love the twists and turns of a Psychological Sci-Fi Thriller (think Ex Machina), please grab some popcorn and prepare for an eye-opening experience. I’ve never done a movie review before, however, this motion picture deserves to be put in the spotlight for its unique beauty and deepness.
The minds behind the alien environment or “The Shimmer’’
Known for his brainy cinematic sci-fi, Alex Garland delivers us a film inspired by the book “Annihilation’’ of “The Southern Reach Trilogy" by author Jeff VanderMeer. I haven’t read the books so I’m not going to talk about the screen adaptation. Although I might purchase the trilogy to get a better understanding of the eerie and fantastic alien goo on Earth called “The shimmer’’.
So first of all, this film is not for everyone. Troubling as it may seem, we live in a cinematic era where ''too complicated’’ and ''too intellectual’’ (in Paramount Picture words) is enough to make an exquisite film like this slip away from the movie theaters and onto the hands of Netflix. Annihilation was not an easy sell on the big movie theater screen in the U.S., mainly because it was too nerdy for the mainstream audience. Too bad that so many folks would rather spend their movie theater dollars on easy-viewing junk, rather than on a film that makes them “think too much’’. It reminds me of Blade Runner 2049 by Denis Villeneuve. Although an excellent sequel to the original film, it did not receive the appraisal it deserved and most probably because of the profound and puzzling story behind it.
So for those like me that actually appreciate a movie that leaves you thinking at the end, a movie that invites you to reflect on each scene as a piece of art would, I’d say dive deep into it and enjoy the ride! Heck, I think I’m going to watch it again soon. It’s like going to an art museum and viewing a painting of surrealist Salvador Dali. There is not just one meaning behind it, there are many of them and you don’t have to pick one, you can just let your mind drift away and feel inspired by its complexity.
Picture taken by me at the Dali Museum in Figueres, Spain
Some parts of the plot
I’m not going to go through the whole story plot that you can easily find on IMDB or on the website of a movie critic. Word of advice, it’s better to not even see the trailer and view it without expectations. This review is about the appreciation of the film as a piece of sci-fi art and my understanding of it.
Cancer not necessarily viewed as something bad
Lena (Nathalie Portman), as the main character, is a cell and cancer pathology expert at John Hopkins University. In one of the first scenes, she explains to her students how cells dividing and mutating have developed ovarian cancer in a female body. Although modern science has made progress to acknowledge that certain risks can provoke cancer in a body, there is still no understanding of its evolving.
Lena’s husband, Kane, comes back home after disappearing for a year in the oily colorful alien goo called the shimmer and is placed in Area X for observation after being found gravely ill. Shortly after, Lena decides to join a team of female scientists in Area X to explore the shimmer. She embarks on this journey seeking some sort of scientific explanation and a cure that may save her husband. In a way, it is as though the shimmer is seen as cancer on Earth.
Lena soon finds out that Dr. Ventress (Jennifer Jason Leigh), a psychologist that leads the team of explorers, has terminal cancer. Although cancer is explained by Dr. Ventress as a natural human tendency to self-destruct, Lena later argues that cancer reflected in the shimmer is not destroying but making something new. The chaos and mutations encountered in the shimmer reflect how beauty and grotesque are combined as part of evolution.
Probably, the main purpose of Annihilation is to make us understand that cancer in a human body could be parallelled in an alien environment that has established itself on Earth. However, as the scenes go by, we come to understand that seeking a cure becomes unrealistic, as life in these conditions is no longer in control. Throughout the horrific experiences in the film, it becomes obvious that humans fear evolution and loss of control. This leaves me thinking, it is possibly a reason why the human race does not evolve as rapidly as it could.
Beauty through the mirror of annihilation
From human-like organic structures in the swamp to crystal trees on the beach, the shimmer offers an ever-changing environment that marries horror and beauty. Disturbing events occur and leave you uncomfortable, but that seems to be the aim of the story as well. It could be seen as a “bad trip’’ or a transcendental experience. It really depends on the viewer’s interpretation and I believe that is why we are left with so many questions at the end.
Lena is confronted with her alien doppelganger, where every one of her movements is mirrored. It is a way to reflect her inner battles of fears and anxieties. Instead of self-destructing in the shimmer like Dr. Ventress, she decides to kill a form of life like herself and creates the pathway to transformation.
In the end, after Lena makes it out the shimmer, she is questioned by the Area X team where her husband is being held. In the final scene, we see her reunite with a now healthy Kane (maybe because the shimmer has self-destructed?) and realizes that he is the alien doppelganger. Mysteriously, this leads us to believe that the transformed Lena could be the alien doppelganger too, or at least her cells are...
In the end, it’s worth the watch!
The Mandelbulb that we see in the final destination of the shimmer at the lighthouse cave was the part that blew me away completely. Its exquisite design reflects fractal mathematics rarely used in motion pictures. This lingering scene is the moment where Lena finally encounters what she had been looking for the whole time, an organism that reflects anything but a malicious virus, a beautiful enlightened being that just simply exists. Devour the atmosphere of this cinematic moment and let it dance you away into the deep ends of extraterrestrial beauty.
Created by Mokasquarl on youtube - inspired by the film Annihilation
I won’t give you any more details on the film and simply leave you with what I have appreciated the most. I could have analyzed other characters and scenes, but I will leave that to you and your own personal experience. One thing for sure, I love movies that are visually beautiful and mind-challenging. This movie may lead you to believe that change and chaos are not only part of life, but also an element of transformation and evolution. Maybe an alien invasion on Earth like the shimmer could be the key to understanding that, even if it leads to annihilation.
