Annihilation, to paraphrase the late Leonard Nimoy, is like a fantastically dark garden - there are moments of great beauty, but they are fleeting in this sci-fi fusion of the Heart of Darkness and The Blair Witch project.The near all female cast is excellent as an exploration team who have all been damaged by past traumas and so have their own reasons for wanting to enter the Shimmer - a slowly expanding phenomenon from which no-one has previously returned.
The special effects are mostly well realised and felt like they'd drawn on influences as diverse as Event Horizon and Hannibal. In short, some of most iconic imagery in this film tends towards the nightmarish.
I don't think I'm spoiling anything by saying this is not a redemptive movie and nor is it going to feed you any easy answers. In some respects, and like the Shimmer itself - what you bring to the movie is reflected and refracted back at you. For example, I've been thinking a lot about human intervention in nature recently - why we do it, and what does good look like - and Annihilation could be seen as a metaphor for that. Some have seen their depressive episodes in it. Others simply thought it was a bunch of pretentious twaddle with lots of plot holes. For me, while there is darkness and provocation here - I found it ultimately up-lifting.
Verdict: Thoughtful mediation on life, being and ecology.
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