After a solid writing career (28 Days Later, Sunshine, Never Let Me Go, and Dredd), Alex Garland made his directorial debut with 2014’s Ex Machina. The film was a critical success, even being nominated for two Academy Awards. Now jump ahead to 2018, which gave us his follow-up, Annihilation. The film was marred by drama between producers with one believing the film needed changes to appeal to more people while the other, and more importantly, the person with final cut privilege, sided with Garland’s vision. The director won this battle, but the release of the film was flubbed with it only being exclusive to theaters for a little over two weeks before releasing to Netflix. On a budget of roughly $40-55 million, Annihilation only brought in $43 million, leading to it being declared a box office bomb for the year.
Box office blunder aside, I’m very happy that we got the director’s version of this film. In it, a group of scientists go inside “The Shimmer,” which is a mysterious zone that keeps expanding. No one has returned from “The Shimmer” except for someone close to one of the scientists. Natalie Portman is in the lead and she is fantastic. Along with her is Jennifer Jason Leigh as ‘Dr. Ventress’ who has her own reasons for entering “The Shimmer.” Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson and Tuva Novotny complete the all-female team heading on the expedition. Oscar Issac is an integral part of the film. though he really doesn’t get that much screen time. The focus of the film is on Portman with her squad mates each having their moments along the way.
Admittedly, there is a lot to chew in the film with themes revolving around loss, grief, and acceptance. It’s one that not everyone is going to like, but those that do may find themselves pondering on it for days after.
Annihilation is currently streaming on Hulu!
John Mosley is the independent wrestling and TV aficionado of the SoBros Network. He graduated from ETSU with a degree in Radio, TV and Film along with a minor in Film Studies. Since graduating he’s done pretty much nothing but watch, film, edit or commentate for local wrestling promotions and is the current color commentator for Resolute Wrestling. #Preds #Titans #DefendOrVacateConor. Follow on Twitter: @SoBroMose
Check out the SoBros Shop. Become a Patron. Give us money for no reason. Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter @SoBrosNetwork. Watch on YouTube.
