Annihilation (2018) Review

I'm not really sure what happened, but I think I liked it.

One year after her husband's disappearance on a military operation, Lena's (Natalie Portman) husband, Kane (Oscar Issac) returns home.  Kane has virtually no memories and is confused and dying of a strange illness.  Lena and Kane are both captured by the government and brought to a secret government instillation.  Lena is informed that three years earlier a lighthouse was hit by a meteor, and was surrounded by a mysterious anomaly called "the shimmer", which is expanding and will eventually consume the entire planet.  Many teams have entered "the shimmer", but no one has ever returned...until Kane.  Lena decides to join the new team, consisting solely of female scientists, to try and discover the secret behind "the shimmer", and maybe come back alive.

What Works:

Annihilation is one of the strangest movies I've ever seen, and that is part of the reason I like it.  It's hard to figure out exactly what's going on, and the movie doesn't do much hand holding to help you figure it out.  That will probably turn off most general audiences, but I really appreciated it.  It reminds a lot of the words of David Lynch, particularly the weirder parts of Twin Peaks.  The story itself also reminds me of the works of H.P. Lovecraft, drawing on his themes of madness and not understanding what is happening.  I certainly don't pretend to fully understand Annihilation, but appreciate this type of movie and enjoy trying to figure it out for myself.

Since, this movie is so bizarre, it helps that we have a great protagonist in Natalie Portman. She is flawed, but very likable.  She's made mistakes in her past, but is actively trying to make up for them.  The very few comedic moments in this movie come solely from her and she makes rational choices and does what I would have done in her situation.  She's a very refreshing protagonist, and helps carry you through the insanity.

Finally, the horror elements are great.  There are some genuinely terrifying moments that really play up the fear of the unknown.  Plus there are some truly incredible kills.  There are only a few moments of gore in the film, but they do not hold back.  So, if you have no idea what is going on, at least it has some memorable deaths.

What Sucks:

I have two problems with Annihilation.  First is the plot point of the whole movie being a flashback.  The first scene is Natalie Portman locked in an interrogation room and is being questioned by a superior.  We occasionally cut back to the two of them talking and giving mild explanations to the events.  This may be my most hated trope in film.  It gets rid of all tension, because you know the character is going to make it out alive.  Atomic Blonde had the same problem.  That said, while I still hate this story structure, Annihilation handles it better than most.

The other problem is the supporting characters.  Natalie Portman's team has four other people in it.  Of them, only Jennifer Jason Leigh's character is given much development.  The other three, played by Tessa Thompson, Gina Rodriguez, and Tuva Novotny, are basically red shirts.  None of them are particularly interesting and I didn't care about them in the slightest.  

Verdict:

While it has a few flaws, I really loved Annihilation because it's so unapologetic in its strangeness.  It doesn't hold your hand, so you can either keep up or get the hell out (and there were several walk-outs in my screening).  It's not an audience friendly movie, and I love and appreciate that.  We don't get enough of these, and I really respect Paramount for making this and putting it in theaters.  Most people will probably hate Annihilation, but I urge you to see it for yourself.  A movie with this level of creativity deserves to be seen.  And who knows, you might be one of the few who love it.  I certainly did.  And I believe that Annihilation has got it going on.

 9/10: Great