Annihilation - from Ex Machina writer/director Alex Garland

[Finarfiniel]

After reading some reactions to this I can't wait for it to hit Netflix. Such a shame it's not being released in theatres outside the US.

 

[Elayis]

What a fantastic movie, it was everything I was hoping for and more. The bear sequence and the last 15 minutes of the film were incredible. So glad I got to see this on the big screen. It felt like a mash-up of The Last of Us, Solaris and Arrival. There was another movie it reminded me of but I can't remember it at the moment.

I think I actually like it more than Ex Machina, and I loved that movie.

 

[Mysteryman]

Honestly couldn't care less about Cinemascores.

I can understand that.
But I would still like to know.

 

[Rjones1325]

Recently Paramount Pictures has been getting pretty ballsy with their releases. “Arrival,” “Mother,” **** even “Downsizing” I would add because all films are experimental stories that make your brain boggle a bit. Even if the film is very subjective by the viewer, you can appreciate the fact how different they are than your average Hollywood film. “Annihilation” is one of those narratives that play as an experimental film that has one thinking about the philosophies of one’s mind and how fast will it deteriorate. Though I appreciate the story’s thoughtful message, I’m getting pretty exhausted of how they’re all executed. Without giving much away, the movie plays way too similarly to “Alien,” but the only difference is that WE”RE NOT IN ****ING SPACE and instead we’re on land! That said, a lot of the film’s elements include characters getting the same treatment as any side character in a Sci-Fi horror film.

"Annihilation" may get a bit pretentious at times, but Garland's second directorial film is a sci-fi spectacle nonetheless.

https://rendyreviews.com/movies//annihilation-review

 

[Incarnadine]

Excellent movie. It should definitely be seen on the big screen, if only for the final 20-30 minutes of the movie.

I was kind of expecting a sparse crowd for the 1:45 show but got there my usual 25 or so minutes early and there were already 35-40 there and by the time it started it was over 90% full. There were 12 people in the first 3 rows, but the rest was just a few scattered singles in a 260ish seat auditorium.

I was also surprised by the positive reaction after it was over, I could hear people discussing it and trying to make sense of what they just saw.

This is definitely getting a 2nd viewing from me, maybe on discount Tuesday when it should be another packed house.

 

[Boom]

The last 15 minutes broke my brain.

 

[Man in the Suit]

What a fantastic movie, it was everything I was hoping for and more. The bear sequence and the last 15 minutes of the film were incredible. So glad I got to see this on the big screen. It felt like a mash-up of The Last of Us, Solaris and Arrival. There was another movie it reminded me of but I can't remember it at the moment.

I think I actually like it more than Ex Machina, and I loved that movie.

Spoiler

Hayao Miyazaki presents Ridley Scott's 2001: The Thing Odyssey

Great movie. I keep thinking about it. Garland is 2 for 2 in the director's chair. 3 for 3 if you count Dredd...

 

[Mysteryman]

Recently Paramount Pictures has been getting pretty ballsy with their releases. “Arrival,” “Mother,” **** even “Downsizing” I would add because all films are experimental stories that make your brain boggle a bit. Even if the film is very subjective by the viewer, you can appreciate the fact how different they are than your average Hollywood film. “Annihilation” is one of those narratives that play as an experimental film that has one thinking about the philosophies of one’s mind and how fast will it deteriorate. Though I appreciate the story’s thoughtful message, I’m getting pretty exhausted of how they’re all executed. Without giving much away, the movie plays way too similarly to “Alien,” but the only difference is that WE”RE NOT IN ****ING SPACE and instead we’re on land! That said, a lot of the film’s elements include characters getting the same treatment as any side character in a Sci-Fi horror film.

"Annihilation" may get a bit pretentious at times, but Garland's second directorial film is a sci-fi spectacle nonetheless.

https://rendyreviews.com/movies//annihilation-review

Paramounts Release of Annihilation is far from ballsy.
Outside of the united States and Canada, they are only making it available on Netflix.
COWARDS!

 

[Blitzkrieg]

What was the Cinemascore for Ex Machina?

I can understand that.
But I would still like to know.

I think Ex-Machina didn't get a proper CinemaScore grade. It was a platform/limited release in it's first 2 weekends before going wide in 3rd weekend. A movie with that kind of a BO run doesn't have a traditional CinemaScore. Probably for the lack of polling audience (CS is graded across 64 random theaters in NA).

 

[redhawk23]

Interview with Co-Composer Ben Salisbury.

Contains a stream of that great piece of music from the end of the film.

https://slate.com/culture/2018/02/a...-explains-the-musical-cue-from-the-alien.html

 

[Brother Jack]

From what I'm hearing this sounds more like a horror movie than sci-fi.

 

[Marvolo]

From what I'm hearing this sounds more like a horror movie than sci-fi.

It's sci-fi with elements of body horror, creature feature horror, scifi horror and loads of tension and thriller elements wrapped around a good character story wrapped around a bizarre mystery.

In terms of cinematic quality Id give it a strong 9/10. In terms of my own enjoyment it's a 10/10.

 

[Persona]

I liked the books well enough but I think the movie connected with me more. Garland definitely takes the starting premise of the first book and then sort of just does his own thing with the story, but keeps some of the basic idea and translates the mood of the series. But also adds a lot of stuff that is clearly coming out of his own headspace and probably what the first book made him think about.

In terms of the art design (conceptual, production design, art direction, all of that) this is one of the most striking and original films I have seen in ages. It's like a sci-fi Southern gothic psychedelic giallo-chiaroscura Genesis effect bomb shell splattering all sorts of colorful, creepy, indelible imagery all over the place. And what a lush place it is. For some reason I almost felt like I was watching a modern and well-funded Fulci or Argento directing an early Cronenberg script (after Cronenberg had just watched The Search for Spock). With H.R. Giger on the design team.

I thought the narrative was pretty straightforward, honestly, the film just allowed the weirdness of the situation to be, well, weird. But at the climax of the film where I've seen so many reactions of "MIND TRIP" or "WHAT DID I JUST SEE," I'm like, uh, it was actually totally clear what was going on. Now, why were certain things happening? I mean, that was a bit more vague, but even there they put a bit of a capper on that in the denouement.

I don't think the film was really all that abstract thematically. If anything, there were a couple moments where I thought it was a bit too on-the-nose (I mean, they really pressed in on the idea of self-destruction being hard-wired into us right down to the cellular level... and then there are obvious metaphors at the end for a sort of simultaneous culmination/transcendence of that idea). It does seem like different people are getting different things out of the movie, which is great, but for me it was sort of like a strange, fictional nature film. About our inner nature, and the Nature that shapes it. That demands our death and rebirth, and the horror/beauty of those demands.

I love that everything inside the Shimmer is a sort of an exaggeration of Nature taking over, then twisted, refracted, into something that at first feels to our characters like a hybrid of Heaven with Hell. Only for them to slowly realize that the environment they are in is neither malignant or benign. It simply is, and it's new.

It's terrifying, the idea of losing yourself to something bigger than you. But this is the truth of death, and in a funny way, it's also the hope of many religions and faiths. Annihilation is not a spiritual movie, per se, but it respects the metaphysics of awareness and the existential crisis of that when confronted with one's mortality and insignificance and then somehow finds its own version of hope.

I also LOVED the setpieces in this, and the last time I said that about a flick was Fury Road. They are few and they are brief but so effective. There's one sequence that will remind a bit of the pivotal blood test scene in The Thing but it's doing its own thing here and it is absolutely greatness.

Loved the soundtrack, too. Most unsettling use of Crosby, Stills, & Nash ever. And the finale music definitely goes into "dramatic sound effects" mode but goddamn if it doesn't do it exceptionally well. It's Geoff Barrow from Portishead (with Ben Salisbury) and in some ways I want to call Annihilation cinema's first trip-hop masterpiece, and that goes beyond the music, it's the way the movie itself kind of grafts so many disparate references and influences into this very unified whole that has a flowing, fresh, moody vibe.

This review from Vox by Alissa Wilkinson does a great job of addressing some of the film's themes with clarity and insight while not trying to dictate a strict interpretation on the movie.

https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/2/23/17040712/annihilation-review-alex-garland-natalie-portman

 

[Persona]

I will say, though, the Vox review really leans on the comparison to Tarkovsky's Stalker... and while Stalker is one of my all-time favorite movies (along with all of Tarkovsky's other movies, in my top 100), I think the similarities between that movie and this one are just superficial ones built into the premise and, uh, location scouting. Aesthetically, tonally, rhythmically, thematically... drastically different movies. Stalker is a classic art film. This is a modern sci-fi/horror/drama. They both have a philosophical bent to them and a few story points that are similar but the approach to the material and how they elaborate on their ideas, it's worlds apart.

 

[Aximili86]

Wow. I was obviously going to see this anyway, but "better than Ex Machina" from a lot of people?

Eep. Hyped!

 

[Mysteryman]

Sounds like Sphere.
That novel/movie didn't provide many answers either.

 

[Persona]

Annihilation has a completely different vibe and core ideas from Sphere, and is much more effective at what it is trying to do.

On a downbeat note, I saw this in a big theater in the middle of Columbus, OH, which is not a small city... and there were three other people in the theater.

Please go see this, it truly might be one of the last times you get to see a bold, original, new IP sci-fi film on the big screen. Feels like the streaming model is going to rapidly increase in its swallowing up of movies like this. Thankful that Neftlix is going to make it possible for other countries to see this sooner than later, but yeah, this is definitely silver screen worthy. An audio-visual treat.

I've noticed, too, that Paramount/Netflix botched their promotion of how this was going to be released. Seen a lot of comments from people in North America thinking they can just check this out on Netflix in a couple weeks.

 

[SomeOldGuy]

Just got back. Terrific film. I may have to revisit the books now, I vaguely recall reading the first one years ago and never getting around to the rest.

 

[SomeOldGuy]

I thought the narrative was pretty straightforward, honestly, the film just allowed the weirdness of the situation to be, well, weird. But at the climax of the film where I've seen so many reactions of "MIND TRIP" or "WHAT DID I JUST SEE," I'm like, uh, it was actually totally clear what was going on. Now, why were certain things happening? I mean, that was a bit more vague, but even there they put a bit of a capper on that in the denouement.

I don't think the film was really all that abstract thematically. If anything, there were a couple moments where I thought it was a bit too on-the-nose

100% agree. Any science fiction fan will figure out basically what’s going on in about the first 30 seconds of the movie. In fact I’d go so far as to say that at the end of the day it’s just a kinder, gentler version of

Spoiler

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

which is hardly high concept. It’s a very easy film to follow and while it does bring up some interesting big questions, it works just fine as a straightforward SF/ horror mystery movie.

 

[DACrowe]

I don't think it is better than Ex Machina, but it is a beautiful movie with great psychedelic visuals and artistry. Spent a good hour debating the ending with some friends afterward. Also, Natalie Portman was really good in this. But some of the stuff they did with the other characters [blackout]like Gina Rodriguez tying them all up?[/blackout] felt a little off, and like how some characters acted like idiots in Sunshine to propel the plot.

A good movie, but not a masterpiece like Ex Machina. Definitely see this on a big screen though.

 

[Lasirius]

Opened on #4 with $11 million.

 

[Persona]

I don't think it is better than Ex Machina, but it is a beautiful movie with great psychedelic visuals and artistry. Spent a good hour debating the ending with some friends afterward. Also, Natalie Portman was really good in this. But some of the stuff they did with the other characters [blackout]like Gina Rodriguez tying them all up?[/blackout] felt a little off, and like how some characters acted like idiots in Sunshine to propel the plot.

A good movie, but not a masterpiece like Ex Machina. Definitely see this on a big screen though.

Ex Machina is definitely a tighter, smaller focus film and often I'd be more down for that. But aesthetically and in terms of its ideas, it very much felt like something I had encountered many iterations of before in science fiction stories and TV and movies and the like.

This felt a lot fresher to me, and I appreciated the level of execution relative to the major bump up in scale, especially when $55 million is not what I'd call a big budget for a movie of this nature. There's obvious influences on it, sure (the book, Asimov's "Green Patches," Virginia Woolf's To The Lighthouse, Tarkovsky's Stalker, Cronenberg's eXistenZ, 2001: A Space Odyssey, John Carpenter's The Thing, Alien, Arrival, Fulci and Argento, Giger, Lisa Frank, again, The Search for Spock) but it is such a hybrid of so many very different things and really combines them rather seamlessly--in keeping with the movie one could say that it refracts the very DNA of its art/lit/film predecessors--it ends up feeling like something new and unique.

I also found that this film really works on several different levels, be it drama, adventure, horror, action thriller, mood piece, thought-provoker, and so on. The visceral and conceptual function of Ex Machina felt more limited to me. It's basically an idea movie, and since the ideas felt a bit rote to me as a sci-fi fan, I never got a lot out of it. Whereas I am not sure I've ever seen a genre movie really focus in on our biological/psychological programming towards self-destruction and then find a way, through science fiction, to elaborate on that idea and develop it towards a conclusion that is simultaneously devastating and transcendent.

The moment the film's title is spoken and what immediately happens after... that's going to say burned into my memory for a long time. I really felt this film give new meaning and a different emotional context to the idea of annihilation. It takes both the language and physics definitions of the word, and finds a powerfully resonant middle-ground for them both, a hybrid definition whose truth you can feel. This is something only art can do.

an·ni·hi·la·tion
??n???l?SH?n/
noun

1.
complete destruction or obliteration.
"the threat of global annihilation"
2.
PHYSICS
the conversion of matter into energy, especially the mutual conversion of a particle and an antiparticle into electromagnetic radiation.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

I thought Ex Machina was just all right - I liked Sunshine and 28 Days Later more than Ex Machina. And I've read the book Annihilation is based on, so I could see the potential for liking the movie more than Ex Machina.

I'll be seeing the movie Tuesday night.

 

[Farren]

Saw it today. It's hard for me to evaluate because I think I would have been harder on if I hadn't read the book, but I can't be sure.

It wasn't perfect. The characters were a bit thin and I think the emotional/psychological journey of the main character could have been more clear (especially given how much time we spent on flashbacks). I realize the book was much the same way but that's no excuse.
​

That being said, it was weird and atmospheric and genuinely disturbing, and the actors did a good job with the script they were handed, so that was enough to make me happy.

Shame Paramount got cold feet on this one because I think it was great on the big screen. I hate to think this could become a trend. I saw a matinee and it had a pretty solid crowd.

In terms of the art design (conceptual, production design, art direction, all of that) this is one of the most striking and original films I have seen in ages. It's like a sci-fi Southern gothic psychedelic giallo-chiaroscura Genesis effect bomb shell splattering all sorts of colorful, creepy, indelible imagery all over the place. And what a lush place it is. For some reason I almost felt like I was watching a modern and well-funded Fulci or Argento directing an early Cronenberg script (after Cronenberg had just watched The Search for Spock). With H.R. Giger on the design team.

That should be a new breed of scifi-horror: if David Cronenberg were writing Star Trek stories.

 

[Doctor Jones]

It's a movie that bent my mind but it wasn't until it was over how much I realized it got under my skin. I had the chills when I came out. I'm still trying to process it. And for all the right reasons. This movie was just excellent. It's the one to beat so far this year. I'll take this over Ex Machina, a quality movie in its own right, I just didn't love it like everybody else. I connected with this more.

Does anyone here have an view of that ending?

I'm glad this movie has been made. It's a movie that will only grow in reputation in the future, though I'm glad people are loving and appreciating it now.