By Emilio Frenk.
Director: Alex Garland
Cast: Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson, Tuva Novotny, Benedict Wong and Oscar Isaac.
Rating: Excellent.
Alex Garland, writer/director of “Ex Machina” brings “Annihilation”, his second feature film and again he delivers.
Based on the novel by Jeff VanderMeer, the movie centers in Lena (Natalie Portman) a biologist and professor who see´s her husband Kane (Oscar Isaac) after being reported missing. Once he shows up at their home he remembers nothing about the expedition and becomes very ill.
In order to find answers, The Psychologist Dr. Ventress (Jennifer Jason Leigh) will ask Lena´s help to join them in the expedition.
Lena agrees and she will join Dr. Ventress´s crew in order to find the answers that make people become ill once they are in the dimension called “The Shimmer” where the laws of nature do not apply and Lena will try to survive at any cost.
One of the things that really leave me with a lot of thought when I saw “Annihilation” was all the symbolic meanings of the film and like with “Ex Machina” I believe that is a movie that most people will be talking for a long time.
Alex Garland recreated a very interesting world in this film and as audience members it allowed us to interpret the meaning of the film however we want.
He wrote a very good script, with very rich characters and again a world that is very different from this kind of films. For starters is very common that in this type of movies the crew are led my men. Not in here and I do think that this one of the things that makes it even more interesting.
I saw a lot of influence in movies like John Carpenter´s “The Thing”, John McTiernan´s “Predator” and other that deal with situations like this.
I like the fact how Garland show the most vulnerable side of human beings in this picture. He did in “Ex Machina” and now here. I like the way how Natalie Portman´s inner conflict was portrayed in this film. She portrays a woman with so much blame and hate in herself and to other that is very convincing.
Like “Ex Machina”, “Annihilation” has one of the most unexpected twists in film and it took completely by surprise. It works at all levels and again I left the theater with a lot of interpretations.
The cinematography by Rob Hardy, who worked with Garland before in “Ex Machina” recreated a world in the Shimmer filled with colors and contrasts that works. Speaking of contrasts I loved the way how Hardy played with those during the whole film and makes it a very interesting visual experience.
One thing that I was not sure that worked in “Annihilation” was some of the backstory that Natalie Portman has with one character in particular. We understood at the point that reached to that moment why her character was having so much hatred and it wasn´t necessary. I understand why it needed to be there but at the same time I think it was not necessary.
The thing that I loved of “Annihilation” is that I didn´t know what the movie was going to be about. All I saw was previous of the film but that was it. This is the main reason why I liked it more and took me by surprise.
Alex Garland has two very good movies so far and I think he is going to be in the ranks of filmmakers like Christopher Nolan and many others who create this kind of material.
Other factor of this film is that I liked the fact that is a movie that it can be opened for discussion due to the symbolic meanings of the movie and those are the movies that I think are the most worth to watch.
One thing before watching this movie is please be open and prepared since it´s more than a science fiction film. It´s a unique work of art and hopefully you can see it that way.
“Annihilation” is one of the year´s best films, I highly recommend it for it´s originality and visuals.