Annihilation (Feb. 2018)

[Zhangar]

Trailer

Annihilation, the first book of Jeff Vandermeer's Southern Reach trilogy, has been adapted into a movie by Paramount Pictures. Natalie Portman has the role of the Biologist, the lead character of the first book.*

The adapation is written and directed by Alex Garland, who made a movie named Ex Machina that I've never seen but I've heard good things about.

Just seeing something like the Southern Reach trilogy get adapted for the big screen is kind of amazing to me.

(The Southern Reach trilogy is Weird Fiction, which is usually described as Lovecraftian (though the field's expanded well beyond HPL at this point).)

A brief intro to the Southern Reach, I guess:

- in an event that's not understood, a chunk of Florida became its own demiplane, and is encapsulated in a field that can only be penetrated in a single location. The region within the field is now known as Area X.

The Southern Reach is the government organization founded by the survivors of the first exploratory mission to monitor and explore Area X.

There have been... difficulties, and the Southern Reach is always trying new configurations to try to avoid the problems of past exploration efforts. The Biologist is part of the latest attempt, an all-women expedition led by the Psychologist.

Things do not pan out.

* Oddly enough, I'd always pictured the Biologist as Asian. I don't remember why. though it's entirely possible that it's because she was. But hey, they got Natalie Portman for the role, so all right.

[Thomas Seitz]

Zhangar,

I always assumed that Area X had something to do with Lovecraftian entities...

[Zhangar]

Thomas Seitz wrote:

Zhangar,

I always assumed that Area X had something to do with Lovecraftian entities...

It's a bit stranger than that?

IIRC:

Area X is a terrible accident, and the entities involved with it can't do anything about it either. It's wrecking our reality and theirs, and they're trying to adapt to survive.

[Todd Stewart]

The concept seems very similar to 'Roadside Picnic' (which is very cool!).

[Zhangar]

This is actually out now, though I haven't had a chance to see it yet (bad time to catch a cold).

Certainly well-reviewed, though.

[Shadow Kosh]

What little I have seen of this film looks a bit like The Gates of Firestorm Peak, only sci-fi and modern.

[Cole Deschain]

I may be trooping out to see this this week...

[Cole Deschain]

So, saw this tonight...

It's very well-made, very well-acted... and I think it'll frustrate audiences expecting something less cerebral.

Its very.... muted on the emotional front (by design), and manages to feel dreamlike, something a lot of movies shoot for and fall short of.

The climax is a bit... off. It feels like a rather pat solution in a film which has thus far made it plain that pat solutions are not to be expected. With that said, it still basically works.

[Zhangar]

Finally saw it today. It's really good.

The pat solution is a not quite so pat, but it makes sense in light this being shot as a one-and-done movie rather than as the first of a trilogy.

Spoiler:

And Area X clearly still lives on in Not-Kane and in Lena, as evidenced by their eyes glowing at the end. The Shimmer may be gone, but the contamination is not.

[DerNils]

Yeah, was not a big fan of the solution either, but I can see Zhangars point. If you don't know if you ca do any Sequels, it makes sense to have a clean cut plus teaser.
I feel they could have give ua a bit more Explanation why the team is sent in with no protective gear at all, especially as the framing device has her in front of a hazmat suited guy in an Isolation cell.

My favourite moment was our friend the bear - man, I am so gonna steal him for one of my next Scenarios.