In my editorial last week, I mentioned that there are works of genre fiction that break outside the definitions of genre fiction. “Annihilation” could not be a better example of that. It is a hauntingly beautiful film that thrills, horrifies, and amazes — all the while carrying a deep symbolism that would take me another few viewings to fully understand.
Natalie Portman plays Lena, a biologist and ex-soldier who is part of a team headed into the Shimmer, an unknown disturbance in the southeastern United States. Only one person has ever returned from the Shimmer: Lena’s husband, Kane, who is laying in a hospital bed as his organs fail. As the team of five women venture into the Shimmer, they encounter a changed world — one that is both beautiful and dangerous.
Each one of the five women has their own self-destructive reason for volunteering to head into the Shimmer. This self-destructive theme runs throughout the whole film and plays a huge part in its conclusion. The human tendency of destructiveness is reflected in every scene, where the characters are met with some new mutation, some new horror that the Shimmer has caused.
“Annihilation” is not an easy-going, Sunday afternoon movie. It is highly cerebral and incorporates elements of horror and minimalism in some scenes, while others are pleasant and serene. It jumps back and forth between tones quickly so as to make the audience feel uneasy and keep them from predicting the film moment-to-moment.
The film does not explain anything about the plot, leaving viewers to struggle to figure it out for themselves — while at the same time, the characters explain every little scientific detail there is. No scientific term is left unexplained and every single process is identified and detailed, no matter how simple. It is a strange dichotomy, having your hand held for small details but being completely left alone when it comes to the plot.
The visuals are the most incredible part of this film. Initially, the Shimmer’s effect on the plant life presents as something that looks like brightly colored mold covering the trees. As they press deeper in, however, it becomes less subtle and more incredible. The characters encounter crystalline structures shooting up from beaches and vines growing in the shape of humans. Those are only a few of the oddities that this film presents.
I left the theater and sat in my car for fifteen minutes, trying to piece together the plot in my head, to no avail. The events in the Shimmer, framed in little snippets of flashback and crystallized in my mind by their horrific beauty, are fragmented and broken. The filmmakers leave us to put them back together. If I see it again, it might make more sense. But then again, maybe not.
This is a movie worth seeing at least twice — a confidence that the studio does not share, considering that “Annihilation” will only be released theatrically in the United States, Canada, and China. Paramount sold the international rights to Netflix after early test-screenings went poorly. It is likely that the studio thought that it was too cerebral of a film to be accessible to most audiences and that people would not understand it. But fully understanding the film is not necessary to enjoy it.
