Annihilation

Annihilation
Annihilation

I went into viewing this film without ever reading (or hearing about) Jeff VanderMeer’s “Southern Reach” trilogy of novels, and therefore had no idea how director and screenplay author Alex Garland changed the book for the big screen. Nonetheless, the film looks great and literally had me hooked from a single audio effect used in the trailers that played at nearly every film I watched at The Alamo Drafthouse for a few months prior to its release. I cannot wait until the film is released on home video so I can sample that sound effect for text tones on my smart phone — yes, I am that nerd.

The film itself kept me enthralled as it explored a different type of alien invasion, where the invader attempts to change to fit our environment while inadvertently (?) changing ours with its presence. The visuals are beautifully shot and the climatic scene weirds out into a psychedelic sequence that made me think of the equally strange “Under The Skin” starring Scarlett Johansson from about five years ago. Unfortunately I think the visualization of the scene probably did not win many fans, although after reading the “Annihilation” novel of the Southern Reach trilogy it actually made more sense to me.

I recommend you find the Southern Reach trilogy and read it before seeing the film.

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