GoodTrash Critique: Annihilation Review

As the credits on Alex Garland’s Annihilation rolled, I had to sit and ponder for a bit. I wasn’t alone. Our old GoodTrash compatriot Caleb Masters was attending as well—great minds and all that. So, we were able to ponder some things about the film aloud. However, I decided I wanted to sleep before offering an Annihilation review.

I have slept.

The new sci-fi thriller from writer/director Alex Garland (Ex-Machina) is a gorgeous, well developed thriller. Adapted from the novel of the same name, Annihilation tells the story of Lena (Natalie Portman). A biologist, teaching at John Hopkins, and former military—she served for seven years. Her spec-ops husband, Kane (Oscar Isaac) has been missing for a year, on a secret mission. She has begun to presume the worst.

And then he returns. But, Kane is not the same. He doesn’t seem to know how he got home or where he’s been. His mysterious return and a rapid illness eventually leads to Lena being pulled deeper into the story. She and Kane are taken to a secret government facility, where she learns about his mission.

It is here that she discovers The Shimmer. A puzzling barrier that no person, thing or animal has returned from, except Kane. Lena volunteers to join a new expedition of scientist-soldiers who are about to take on The Shimmer—played by Tessa Thompson, Gina Rodriguez, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Tuva Novotny.

Upon entering The Shimmer, the team begin to lose track of time and memories, and begin encountering mutated plants and animals. As paranoia begins to set in, there is terror at every turn.

Annihilation Review

As I previously mentioned, Annihilation is a gorgeous film. The world that Garland puts on screen is beautiful and creepy and vastly interesting. He wears his inspirations on his sleeve, much like with Ex-Machina. There are hints of Kubrick and Lynch alike. The sound design echoes Eraserhead, while the growing mystery and slipping sanity call back to The Shining.

I see people referencing 2001, but I think The Shining is just as vital to this film’s DNA.

I believe it’ll warrant a rewatch.

However, I’m really afraid that Annihilation is neither as smart or nuanced as it believes itself to be. I’m on Letterboxd, follow me if you like, and there’s a user on there who I follow whose reviews often interest me. The user is Arielrocks5. She typically has interested takes on movies, and I don’t always agree, but I have to agree with her take on Annihilation.

“But what I’m trying to say here is that everyone is going to be all ‘you just didn’t get it!!!!!’ when there really isn’t much to “get”, as most of its major themes and aspects are both easy to understand and often directly stated.”

To me, this is the core issue I’m having with the film, I’ve read a couple of other reviews in preparation for this as well, to see if the highlighted something I was missing, but no, they just reinforced my initial thoughts. In his review for Variety, Peter DeBruge states, “It’s a smart approach that rewards the audience’s intelligence, rather than overwhelming them with conventional exposition, and keeps viewers leaning forward in their seats, searching for clues as to what the Shimmer represents.”

I’m going to agree with part of this sentiment, but not the other. There are key elements within the film, where we are given explicit exposition and plot elements. There is nothing nuanced about this script. The dialog is rough at times, as is the delivery. However, I will say, I did stay at the edge of my seat. I was totally and truly enraptured with the mystery, but I don’t think the payoff worked. It felt too anticlimactic.

There’s a sequence within the film that highlights my experience as mentioned above. Once the team arrives at this small, evacuated city within The Shimmer, one of the characters goes on a long monologue. It’s exhausting. However, that is followed up with a fantastic creature horror sequence that is amazing. It’s truly the best of times and the worst of times.

Paranoia’s all I have left…

I feel like one of the major themes throughout the film is dealing with sanity and paranoia. We’re led to believe that former teams who have went in to The Shimmer begin to become unhinged. We even start to see it in some of the team that we’re following. But, this insanity angle never really seems to work. Especially as Portman’s character doesn’t seem to be questioning reality in the way that I would think she’s supposed to.

Gina Rodriguez’s Anya is at the other end of the spectrum. She’s cranked to 11, but it feels so out of place in contrast to the subtle performances around her. She feels like she’s in a different movie.

I’m not really sold on any of the performances other than Portman’s. Here portrayal of Lena is very layered, strong and powerful, yet scared and nervous. Oscar Isaac also has a strong turn, and I feel he and Portman have a fun chemistry.

The film is at its best when it’s trying to be abstract.

Garland really and truly wants to play with the greats, Kubrick, Tarkovsky, Lynch, et al. But, he doesn’t have the same skills. In time, he may. But, Annihilation never feels as fully realized as Ex-Machina, which is consistently stronger at every turn.

This effort never feels balanced. I feel like the biggest drawback is the standardized attempt at marrying traditional narrative storytelling with the sort of abstract, artistic cinema that Garland is hoping to create.

I’ve liked Garland’s previous writing efforts. 28 Days Later is a fascinating work, and Sunshine is intriguing. And, I’m a big fan of Ex-Machina. I feel he has a lot of potential, but for me, there are a couple major missteps within Annihilation.

And with all of that being said, I think it’s worth seeing. Netflix will soon be distributing it on their platform. The film is only opening in the US and China, the rest of the world will be able to stream it.

And, I think it does warrant a rewatch. I myself am curious to see if there truly is something more to The Shimmer. But, as it stands, the mystery of the film is only skin deep.

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