Oh good. I haven’t seen a “What the Hell was that?!” film for at least a few months now. In fact, the whole problem with Oscar nominated releases tends to be one of distinct clarity, pictures that absurdly arrive at some antiquated notion that people want to understand what’s going on in a film. Annihilation is a huge breath of relief from that predicament.
This is one of those films narrated from the POV of a survivor; I’m becoming less-and-less enamored with the format. For one thing, that’s a huge spoiler in the first 30 seconds of film. Lena (Natalie Portman) has endured something that others have not; that much is clear as she is grilled from a sterile room by guys wearing hazmat suits. Is it good we already know she survives? What am I missing?
Speaking of missing, Lena has a husband, Kane (Oscar Isaac). Kane was sent on a military mission a year ago and never returned. Lena, a current professor of cellular biology and veteran of the U.S. Army herself, knows all about missions where you don’t return. Except Kane does … sort of. One night, he just shows up all, “Hi honey, I’m home” except for the “Hi honey, I’m home” part. He’s broken, taciturn, and dying. On the way to the hospital, the army hijacks the ambulance, collecting Kane able-y and Lena to spare.
We’ve only just begun to ask, “What’s going on?” There’s a lighthouse in Maine that has become the epicenter of an expanding semi-spherical dome in which nothing escapes, no equipment, no scientists, no army guys … except Kane, apparently, or what’s left of him. Dr. Ventress (Jennifer Jason Leigh) is going to lead yet another team –this one all female … girls night!- into the sphere. And hey, Natalie, you can come, too. Why not? You’re also female. Inside the sphere, there’s temporal distortion, electronic distortion, and DNA distortion. That last thing is neither a joke, nor exaggeration. Plants grow with different species of flowers attached to the same root. The party is attacked by some weird gator-shark predator. What would you call a thing with body of a fat alligator and the teeth of a shark? I’m gonna call it a “Croc-o-sh***.”
Why is it in tales like this, everything survives but the humans? Normal plants and animals become super, while humans just seem to die off. The Girls 
Trip happens upon a video clue from a previous team: hey, there’s Kane! He was here. And there’s his buddy, and they’re … cutting open his chest … to reveal a tapeworm has evolved into an anaconda. OK, that’s the creepiest thing I’ve seen since It; I might just check out right here.
That’s as far as I go explaining stuff. Truth is, if you read that, you have an equal understanding of Annihilation as I do and I saw the hour of film that comes after said moment. The big question is, “If I understood Annihilation, would I like it better?” Ummm, maybe? I cannot really say either way. Yes, my disappointment was tied to my confusion, but I don’t see a whole lot of professional scientists saying, “Ooooo, this is brilliant!” Then again, a 7.9 imdb as of this writing speaks to something wacky. It may not be a scientist, but there’s a whole ton of confused DNA going into that abomination of a rating. I think it’s all a croc-o-sh**.
Stranded in a modern Jurassic
Lena finds weird clues thoracic
Your confusion don’t sway
This mess of DNA
Call back when you’ve evolved to a classic
Rated R, 115 Minutes
Director: Alex Garland
Writer: Alex Garland
Genre: DNA Playground
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Those who don’t mind being confused
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: The bewildered
