Alex Garland is one of my favourite filmmakers to come out of Britain. I learned about him through his script for 28 Days Later, which eventually became my favourite zombie film. Learning more about him and his own creative freedom with Ex-Machina led that to become one of the most memorable sci-fi films, and certainly one of the most visually-pleasing sci-fi films of the modern era. So, when I heard he had a new film (with barely any marketing) I was pretty thrilled. Annihilation is the first time Garland has made a film in three years and it could probably be another three years before he thinks about making another. Although, I was concerned. Concerned not because of Garland, his vision or what the cryptic trailers had shown me - but because of the film being shown only through Netflix (here in the U.K at least). The last film to do this was the highly-anticipated The Cloverfield Paradox, and we know why that was.
With that being said; I'm very glad I was able to watch Annihilation on Netflix.
Garland's films have always had a huge focus on character, in much the same vein as a character study, although keep plot just as high of a priority. With Annihilation this hasn't changed, especially as the film devotes almost all of its runtime to its leading lady Lena; played by Natalie Portman, she's a biologist who finds herself venturing into a place very, very, much unlike our own. The way Garland writes this character just feels right. This is because in the 'exploration' sub-genre that Annihilation finds itself in, (no harm to Apocalypse Now) where the narrative takes priority, sometimes character can feel out of place. Although Garland subverts this by telling a lot of the story through flashback, which allows us to see the narrative through Lena's perspective and sheds some background on why some of the films plot points have a particular resonance with her.
Likewise, you can tell Portman portrays the character in the exact way Garland intended. She understands that with all the flashbacks and scenarios thrown at her, Lena is a deep, complex character. As a result, Portman really immerses herself in the role and is able to shift the attitude of the character fluently as the plot progresses. This careful attention to writing by Garland and the great performance put on by Portman make for a character that's not only convincing, but one we can easily engage and sympathise with every step of the way.
As an overall film, visual experience - Annihilation is stunning. It's got the sort of visual awe you'd expect to be shown off by a ridiculously expensive TV in a showroom. From its range of colours for the majority, you wouldn't think the film would even come close to being a sci-fi horror. One scene that illustrates it pretty well is the sequence from where the above photo is taken. As Lena's seen in the foreground, a stern-faced croc-killer, just a few steps in front of a beautiful background - with colourful plants and great greens all around. On paper, it sounds strange and almost as if it shouldn't be there - but it works for a film like Annihilation that really grounds itself in the sci-fi genre.
Something else I thoroughly enjoyed was the way the film was edited. While this may seem less important to the casual, Netflix viewer, the film's editor Barney Pilling (The Grand Budapest Hotel) makes it more noticeable and pretty exciting too. Pilling utilises the flashback narrative style employed by Garland to give us the information we need, as well as the right information at the right time to keep us attentive. This makes the sequences that are meant to evoke certain emotions do so really well and don't often feel out of place.
However, this is also one of the tiny tiny gripes I have with Annihilation. As much as I loved how it was edited, there were some moments that felt oddly out of place. While this may have just been me being less observant than unusual, I did feel like there were just a few moments that felt distant to even the film's sub-plot, distracting viewers from the bigger picture. Although these moments are, for the most part, very small and is probably just me nit-picking to make a somewhat balanced review.
With Annihilation, Alex Garland knocks it out of the park once again. He provides a human take on a genre famous for its inhuman villains and placing the most human characters in the most alien settings. It's an experience that's just as immersive as it is visually awesome, all packed into a very uniquely-written script.