Annihilation

2018 Directed by Alex Garland

Horror Marathon Day 22 Film 37

I've watched and rewatched this film several times- usually I have to rewatch it because I fall asleep due to the dense soundtrack that pulls me to sleep. In that way it very much is a dreamscape kind of movie. What the trailer showed is not what we got however: It's not a troop of women going to kill a bunch of Aliens. It's more of a story of a woman's grief as she tries to find what happened to her apparently dead husband. She has to go to an alien landing that has caused serious environmental changes.

I suppose part of my problem is how much of this is set with flashbacks from her telling investigators what happened. The dreamy relationship with Oscar Isaac and nostalgic music isn't enough for me to care much for what Natalie Portman's character is wanting (nor for their relationship in particular). Each of the women explorers has their own reason for being there- and though there's a short lived thrill of a bear that's been synthesized to the alien beings the horror tempo isn't there. Most of it then becomes like a CGI landscape or cool graphics for you to zone out into.

The idea of our own cells having a suicidal tendency is there too- as if we have a compulsion towards ANNIHILATION... dun dun DUnNNN. It all gets a bit wordy as certain elements of what's happening on screen is laid out for the viewer by the characters. A twisted ending comes more as an afterthought than being truly dangerous too. I just wish there was more dread here as it feels like taken from Solaris without pushing towards other menacing psychological horror. We are all eventually star dust--- there are other films that have been as contemplative while still being horrific.