As per my usual search for movies I haven't seen in times where there is not much to watch from streaming platform or at least nothing that really interest me, I try to look up for older movies that might be interesting, that's how I found Annihilation (2018). The movie is not so bad although, nothing against woman; why did they go with an expedition group full of woman? I get you try to show the world there can be a GI Jane, I got no problem with that but often its hard to have a group of woman pretending to be though, if we take that out of the equation I think the movie is a good watch, a nice sci fi movie that specifically takes the hole hybrid and evolution of species to a higher level.
Lena, role played by the gorgeous Natalie Portman; a biologist who sings up for a sect expedition into an area called The Shimmer, in Florida after a meteorite crashed into a lighthouse and created this zone that looks like a protective field expanding and changing everything across its path, within this area the laws of nature start to break down and mutate everything inside it, not only affect living things; it also distorts radio signals, memories, and even time, making it almost impossible for anyone to understand what's happening while they're inside, the most interesting aspect is how it affects time which is something got my attention, in a way the movie reminds me a lot to Arrival (2016).
- IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2798920/
- Platform: AppleTV+
Rottentomatoes Rating
At this point in time everyone things Kane is Kane, hold that though because latter on things going to change drastically. Lena volunteers to join the next expedition into the Shimmer with a time of five women that includes Dr. Ventress, a psychologist who is the leader of the mission, Anya a paramedic Josie, a physicist called Josie and Cass an anthropologist, they all have personal reasons to join the expedition but each are scare to death in their own way. They all have a bunch of ghost in their closet with Ventress who has cancer, Josie has gone through self harming in the past, Cass lost her daughter and Anya is a former addict, so why on Earth would you send out a team with such curriculum unless, unless you know they most likely not coming back?! by the way there is Lena too who is not only traumatize by how Kane came back out of the Shimmer but she also had an affair while he was away, makes you think wtf is she going to tell Kane if everything works out in the end? oh btw I cheated on you while you were out there been a fkn hero for all of us!!
I wanted to love this movie more than I did, still I consider my score of 7/10 is a very just one. The concept is nothing new, not like they inventing the wheel but the mysterious zone where reality itself seems to break down, causing mutations and reflecting humanity's self destructive tendencies, all that breakdown and details is what makes the movie shine. The environment visuals are awesome for the most part, almost like you watching Avatar world, especially as the team goes deeper into the Shimmer and encounters increasingly bizarre plants and hybrid animals they have to constantly deal with and kill.
The pacing feels off at times with the movie often going zero to a hundred real quick, moments where the characters are trying to figure out things and contemplating their surrounding and the next scene is pedal to the metal horror. With some scenes like the discovery of Kane's video where he look disoriented and terrified and even kills himself with a grenade, to the bear attack, very effective at trying to explain how twisted things are. Part of the pacing problems also belongs to how sometimes characters try to pretend to be so smart they over complicate things and makes the dialogue feel forced.
The ending is where things get really weird, in ways both fascinating and frustrating due to certain aspects that are not fully explained. Lena finally reaches the lighthouse, where she finds that Dr. Ventress has already arrived. Inside she discovers a hole created by the meteorite and a video showing that her Kane killed himself with a grenade, only to be replaced by a double created by his remains falling apart and spreading, explaining why the Kane who returned home seemed so different. Its here when Ventress starts to explains how the Shimmer will eventually consume everything before disintegrating into a cloud and this is the part that I felt was not fully explained, so we just have to trust Ventress.
There is also an event where the shimmer takes a drop of Lena's blood and transforms into a humanoid entity that mimics her movements. It's neither hostile or friendly, it imitates whatever Lena does. Street Smart Lena tricks her double into taking a grenade, which destroys it and causes the entire Shimmer to collapse disintegrating everything it has change. Lena is the only one that makes it out of the Shimmer and returns to the research facility where she is back with Kane's double. She asks if he is really Kane, he admits he doesn't think so, then asks her if she is really Lena and she doesn't answer back, there is this look in their eyes like none of them are human anymore but then why both Kane and Lena didn't died or disintegrate with the Shimmer? this last one I find cool because its the final cliffhanger.
#skiptvads, #inleo, #hive, #annihilation, #shimmer, #natalie, #portman, #garland, #scifi, #horror, #lighthouse, #mutation, #expedition, #dna, #alien, #vandemeer, #biology, #kane, #ventress, #cells, #transformation, #visuals, #identity, #selfdestruction, #bear, #alligator, #doppelgAnger, #suicide