Annihilation

  Annihilation is a horror film. This is a hill I’m willing to die on. What type of horror film it is is a little harder to pin down. It has elements of a monster, body, and psychological horror throughout. Regardless of what subgenre you place it in, Annihilation is undoubtedly horror.

Annihilation was written and directed by Alex Garland (Ex Machina) and was based on a novel of the same name by Jeff VanderMeer (Finch) and was released on February 23rd, 2018. Annihilation was made on a budget of $40 million, made $11,071,584 upon opening, and went on to make $43,070,915 worldwide. Despite the film’s poor box office returns (largely due to terrible marketing), it received critical acclaim upon release.

Annihilation follows a group of scientists who are exploring a mysterious area full of mutated plants and animals dubbed “the Shimmer”. While inside the anomaly they face threats from both the wildlife and from each other as they begin to break down psychologically.

Annihilation is a mesmerizing film. Like Garland’s previous film, Ex Machina, is very introspective as well as thrilling. That thoughtfulness is likely the reason that people don’t want to label the film as horror (or give it the infuriating “elevated horror” moniker if they do). As both a writer and director Garland is great at using sci-fi and horror to explore our own humanity (not just the aforementioned Ex Machina, but also 28 Days Later and Never Let Me Go as well). The script is near perfect and the visuals are just as often stunningly beautiful as they are horrifying. Lena’s flashbacks feel a little extraneous, but luckily they are pretty short.

The film is grounded by the performances of the five central women: biologist and Army veteran Lena (Natalie Portman, Black Swan), psychologist Dr. Ventress (Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight), paramedic Anya (Gina Rodriguez, Jane the Virgin), physicist Josie (Tessa Thompson, Thor: Ragnarok), and geomorphologist Cass (Tuva Novotny, Borg vs. McEnroe). While the cast is excellent across the board, I want to give a special shout out to Thompson. Her role is the least showy of the five and she gives Josie a quiet and understated dignity without ever feeling weak.

The score for the film is provided by Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow (Devs) and it’s an essential piece of the puzzle. Alternating between soft acoustics for moments of beauty and wonder and a harsher, more electronic sound when things take a darker and more horrifying turn. The music is excellent and the tone it provides is pitch perfect.

Annihilation is a stunning piece of filmmaking. All of the pieces come together to form a thoughtful, thrilling, terrifying, and sometimes beautiful whole. I revisit this film frequently and find more to love about it every time. 

Rating: 4.5 shark-alligators out of 5

Other Observations:

• Does the Dog Die? A mutated alligator and bear are both killed.

• Harrison’s Favorite Scare: The entirety of the skeleton bear sequence (and Anya’s brutal death in it’s jaws) is an incredibly horrifying set piece.

• It’s quite a shame that, due to the underwhelming box office numbers, we’re unlikely to see adaptations of the novel’s two sequels (Authority and Acceptance).

Next Week: Since we’ve got five weeks this month, next week I’ll be covering a non-horror film (that coincidentally also stars Jennifer Jason Leigh). It’s Dolores Claiborne!