Last night I watched Annihilation (2018) on Netflix.
Written and directed by Alex Garland (Ex Machina) and based on the novel of the same name, the movie is an adventure/sci-fi/thriller that stars Natalie Portman (Thor), Oscar Isaac (new Star Wars trilogy), Jennifer Jason Leigh (Single White Female) and Tessa Thompson (Thor: Ragnarok) among others.
Here’s the synopsis according to Wikipedia:
“A group of scientists enter "The Shimmer", a mysterious quarantined zone of mutating plants and animals caused by an alien presence.”
I enjoyed this film but have to admit it took a little while before I was really into it.
Visually it’s nice and the story is interesting (if not a little “different”). I’m also still digesting it today which I guess is a sign of a good movie.
I’ve been having a lot of conversations with the followers of my Facebook page over the past few months, and yesterday I was talking to someone about how these days a lot of films follow a similar and “safe” format which is why we rarely get anything that really stands out. This definitely doesn’t follow that format, and maybe as a result is why it flopped at the box office despite being a pretty interesting concept.
As it happens a financier at Paramount was concerned that the film was “too intellectual” and “too complicated” and demanded changes to make it more appealing to a wider audience. The producer and director refused and the film bombed. Maybe it was too intellectual after all...?
I don’t know if I’d watch it again but it’s one I’ve been meaning to watch for a while and now I have.
Here’s the trailer. 👇
Seen it?
What did you think? 🤔