Our first look at Alex Garland’s post-Ex Machina project is finally here, and it’s looking fantastically creepy—and filled with weird new alien vistas for Natalie Portman and her team of crack scientists to explore and be fearful of (with good reason).
Based on Jeff VanderMeer’s book of the same name, Annihilation follows the story of a female scientist (Portman) leading a taskforce into the aftermath of an environmental disaster, both to find the strange creature that caused it and to rescue her husband (Oscar Isaac).
Ex Machina was one of the best scifi movies in recent years, so there’s a lot of interest riding on Garland’s next writer/director venture—and everything we’ve heard about the movie so far sounds hauntingly mesmerizing. Plus, lady scientists kicking ass and fighting weird alien looking stuff? Sign us the hell up.
Annihilation hits theaters February 23, 2018.
DISCUSSION
Based on the trailer, it sounds like they’re trying to make Natalie Portman’s character more sympathetic. There’s really very few characters to connect with in the novels, despite my enjoyment of them.
I’m also totally confused about how Garland intends to approach this movie as a stand alone like he keeps insisting, unless he’s drastically changed the plot or intends to make a bafflingly ambiguous movie. The novels provide almost zero explanation of any of the events until nearly the end of the trilogy, and even then it’s vague at best.