Annihilation is an adaptation of the novel by Jeff Vandermeer, directed by Alex Garland.
The story, simply presented, follows five women, five intelligent and expert scientists, in their expedition in Area X. In the epicenter of this area there is a meteor that is the cause of the inexplicable phenomena. Their job is to find out what it is and how to prevent it from spreading further. However, what lies within Area X transcends all the empirical and cognitive abilities of a common man.
Destruction or Creation
Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud exchanged a few letters in 1932 which were later published under the title "Why War?". When asked how people are so thrilled with the war, Freud gives the answer that this is the guilt of the instincts that have been rooted in us from the very beginning. More precisely, the two types of instincts: the first to strive for maintenance and unification, dealing with the notion of eros and others seeking to destroy and kill. But he also says that there can't be one without another, that is, that one can not be implemented without the use of another. Why am I saying this? It's in the film Annihilation that we have shown such a principle. Although Freud speaks of this as a human principle, it comes from the nature that we are all part of. Nature is crude and beautiful at the same time, it devours itself to keep itself alive. The problem that Area X has is neither hostile nor benevolent. It just evolves and changes.
When it comes to sci-fi movies, or more specifically those dealing with the subject of the invasion, it's often an extraterrestrial entity that wants to subjugate or destroy us. This is not the case in Annihilation. Here we have a form of life that is spreading and blooming and which changes everything in its way. But the question is whether this change is necessarily hostile. Of course, people see it so, but that's not its primary goal. Garland plays shimmeringly with points of view, the conception of an extraterrestrial threat, all of it in order to portray a larger picture: everything moves in a kind symbiosis of the universe of sympathy.
The latter concept relates to the writer Umberto Eco, through which he explains the world, i.e. the absence of the final secret of the world, where each sign points to another sign, where everything is mysteriously connected and produces the mysterious action of one body to another. Eco will say that there is no final answer to a secret, because if it were, the world would be breakable. In Baudolino's novel he writes:
''These flowers live in sympathy with the planet and therefore retain a part of its power. If you act upon the flower, you will act upon the sun, if you can act upon the sun, you can influence its action and, thanks to the sun, you reconnect with something that already lives in sympathy with the sun and is more perfect than the sun. But this does not just happen in flowers, it happens to stones and animals."
This quote best describes the laws of the world that Garland creates. The world outside Area X has forgotten about this idea, he forgot that he is also nature, that everything is evolving in relation. Area X is a reminder of that.
Annihilation comes from a line of narratives such as Solaris and Stalker(whether it's novels or movies) and as such takes a lot of attention and sets great expectations. And although it's not and will not achieve the status of the classic they have, we can undoubtedly say that it justifies expectations, satisfies the tastes of sci-fi fans and Garland makes it an important name in the world of this film genre.In the end, some will like it, some will not; some will contemplate about it, and some will think it's a failure. In any case, whichever group you belong to, it will make you think about the genre in a different tone, and that's what the film is about.
This was my translation from Croatian to English from Ziher.hr article ''Evolucijski procesi i čovjek odvojen od prirode''