On Feb. 23, “Annihilation” crashed into theatres and followed a group of scientists trying to determine the secrets of the Shimmer.
“Annihilation” begins with a strange non-terrestrial thing hurling into Earth’s atmosphere, crashing into a lighthouse on a beach. From this crash comes the Shimmer.
But before audience members get to know more, they are transported to an interrogation room where Lena (Natalie Portman) is being held and asked questions regarding everything and anything she can remember about her expedition. It is later learned that everything relates back to the Shimmer.
One of the first memories of Lena that viewers see happens to be in her workplace where she explains her plans for the year with her students. The audience learns that her husband Kane (Oscar Isaac) has been missing for a year, but shortly after Lena gets home, Kane seems to reappear.
He quickly falls ill, and on route to the hospital, government officials chase down the ambulance and abduct Lena and Kane.
Lena soon discovers that Kane had been a part of an expedition into the Shimmer, what seems to be a growing dome encasing so many mysteries that no expedition team has ever come back from trying to solve. With Kane in a coma, Lena and four other female scientists venture into the Shimmer to discover what they can.
Lena, Dr. Ventress (Jennifer Jason Leigh), Cass (Tuva Novotny), Josie (Tessa Thompson) and Anya (Gina Rodriguez) happen upon wonderful and terrifying things. Plants grow on one stem and look like they shouldn’t, different animal species are crossbred (although that is scientifically impossible at the moment) and strange phenomenon in the human person keeps all the women on their toes.
When a big secret of the Shimmer is discovered, the audience can’t even fathom the events that are soon to follow such a revelation.
“Annihilation” was very, very loosely based on the book of the same name by Jeff VanderMeer. The book is a part of the “Southern Reach” trilogy, but the director of this movie decided not to stick with the original content and instead give the movie the spin of a more dreamlike state. By doing this, a fantastic piece of art was made.
“Annihilation” is one of those films that will make movie-goers think and try to determine the secrets of the Shimmer. It is not a movie to go into expecting to be spoon fed, as most movies do nowadays. It is a movie where the audience must look and listen to everything to get the full story. It is also a movie that should be seen more than once to understand the extent of the story completely.
There are clues from the first scene all the way up until the final moments of the movie. There are secrets and lies, visual cues and audio indications for everything.
The visuals in this movie were pretty phenomenal. Audience members understand the blandness of normal life in the dull, stagnant and clean colors of Lena’s workplace and her home. It is also seen in Area X, but there the Shimmer reflects colors, making it seem not quite real, adding to the mystery of the secrets the facility holds. In stark contrast, the Shimmer is color, life and death and fantastical.
The CGI and special effects used looked great, as well. The unnatural animals looked real, and the Shimmer looked like a rainbow bubble: it sticks to a surface but doesn’t pop. It was also a great touch that as the scientists were in the Shimmer, the many colors of the Shimmer’s dome reflected off everything, making the land more unbelievable.
The music in the movie also adds so much to the thriller aspect. This music, by Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow, just added that extra element to make the audience get invested even further in trying to figure out the secrets but keep attention on the screen. Some songs make the heart race, and the fear and confusion of the characters are felt so thoroughly by the audience because of the music.
“Annihilation” is an hour and 55 minutes of absolute beauty paralleled with destruction. It is rated R for gore, violence and some sexuality. So, for those who don’t mind the idea of walking out of the theatre contemplating all that they have witnessed, and not feeling content until the whole mystery is unraveled, “Annihilation” is the perfect movie to get the brain afire.
