Annihilation (2018)

[somebody85]

13 hours ago, Valonqar said:

This was not good, sorry. Awfully derivative of Body Snatchers, Ruins, Sphere, Solaris, Stalker. Once they introduced duplicates you just new how it would end 

 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

it's duplicates who make it "alive" not the originals even though we were led to believe that Duplicate/Alien Lena destroyed the Shimmer while real one escaped.

 

 

You just knew how each character would die. Really predictable. I don't get why people think the ending was a mind-fuck. LOL, it ended exactly like any movie of the same kind ever.

That very well could be what happened but it's nowhere near as cut and dry as that if you really think about it. There's nothing to really say that is what in fact happened (compared to a film like Life - where it's right in your face).

There are a lot of interpretations for how that whole final confrontation really went down and why everything went up in flames after. But remember as we're watching that beautiful scene, we don't see any creatures or humans burn, just the structures.
 

Apparently in the book it did happen the way you are describing but the movie is it's own beast.

It could be a dark ending or it couldn't. Regardless Lena will never be the same.

 

Edited February 26, 2018 by somebody85

[Dementeleus]

That's emphatically NOT how the book ended. 

[RichWS]

Other than the terrific screaming bear scene and the entertaining oddness of the ending, I was pretty letdown. Portman is great, but I found the other performances to be....amateurish? Spouting some really clunky dialogue, I let out a few unintentional chuckles. I still don't know if Gina Rodriguez's "It was the light! No, YOU watch it again!" in response to the video was supposed to be funny, but I certainly thought it was. 

 

I'm glad others are really into it. It just didn't land for me. Also, there's a massive surplus of close-up shots of hands touching things and I was constantly screaming in my head, "WHY ARE THEY TOUCHING THAT WITH NO GLOVES? WHERE ARE THE GLOVES?" 

 

 

 

 

[4815162342]

Me when 3 trained, educated professionals immediately leave the safety of a high tower to run into tall grass because they heard a vague noise:

 

 

[somebody85]

 

Highly recommend anyone who saw this film to watch these. Even if you think you completely got it, the first video brings up some stuff I definitely missed. And I'm even more in the corner of Lena not being a duplicate at the end.

And as far as the characters touching stuff without gloves or going into tall grass alone...that's explained. This isn't Alien Covenant. 

[WrathOfHan]

On 2/26/2018 at 1:06 PM, RichWS said:

Other than the terrific screaming bear scene and the entertaining oddness of the ending, I was pretty letdown. Portman is great, but I found the other performances to be....amateurish? Spouting some really clunky dialogue, I let out a few unintentional chuckles. I still don't know if Gina Rodriguez's "It was the light! No, YOU watch it again!" in response to the video was supposed to be funny, but I certainly thought it was. 

 

I'm glad others are really into it. It just didn't land for me. Also, there's a massive surplus of close-up shots of hands touching things and I was constantly screaming in my head, "WHY ARE THEY TOUCHING THAT WITH NO GLOVES? WHERE ARE THE GLOVES?" 

 

 

 

 

I agree with some of what you said. The performances were all fine IMO; I didn't really think there was a weak link. If the script was a little more polished, this truly could have been something special. As is, it's a step above most blockbusters but nothing quite extraordinary. 8/10 | B

Edited March 2, 2018 by WrathOfHan

[Dementeleus]

Nothing needs to be explained about the end. There's no definitive Right Answer.

[filmlover]

The ending of this is actually reminiscent of the ending of Garland's previous movie (Ex Machina). Both movies conclude with the implication that humanity is fucked.

[Cmasterclay]

Man, I did not like this at all, sorry people

[Dementeleus]

On 3/1/2018 at 5:01 PM, filmlover said:

The ending of this is actually reminiscent of the ending of Garland's previous movie (Ex Machina). Both movies conclude with the implication that humanity is fucked.

 

 Mmmm, not metaphorically, I think. Lena comes through changed, altered, but a survivor nonetheless. 

[K1stpierre]

Well, that was definitely an entertaining, yet weird movie (but it works). I went in trying to keep my expectations in check as I’ve been wanting to see this movie forever. And for the most part, it lived up to my expectations. There were some parts I loved, some parts that were okay, and some parts in general where I felt a little more was needed, but just slightly. There really wasn’t a part in my mind where I genuinly disliked it.

 

I thought Natalie Portman was good in this, not fantastic or anything but very engaging and good. As for the rest, I do feel like the other characters were somewhat under developed. We really don’t know much about the motives of each character for why they would go in (other than Portman and the other woman who lost her daughter/husband. I guess it’s assumed to the viewer that her motive is that she doesn’t give a shit?). The lead soldier, the one who Portman first saw, I’m not sure if why ever got a reason for why she was so stubborn on going to the light house or even why she’d wanted to go in in general? Other than just “well, it keeps getting closer so....guess I might as well go in and try to stop it”? 

 

Also, not too sure what the flashbacks of her cheating on her husband had to do with the story at hand. Was it coorelating to what the head lady (sorry, I’m bad with names) was saying about how people are always self destructing themselves vis drinking, drugs, or aka ruining a good marriage (she made some sort of comment about marriage, like she new portman was cheating). Was it just so the viewer had a deeper understanding of Portman’s character? It just felt weird as to me I liked the info, but didn’t know how it coorelated to what was happening.

 

By far, the bear scene when they were tied up was FANTASTIC and by far the most chilling piece of the film. The way they were able to formulate the screams but also mix in enough of a bear growl was spot on. I was glued to my seat that entire time. I just wished in someway, we had more of that eeriness in the film.

 

However with that said, sometimes a film doesn’t have to show the viewer everything or explain everything, especially when it comes to sci fi. I think it comes with the lore, it brings about mystery leaving the screen and having the viewers have their own opinion for imagination (kind of what authors do for books). I at first was turned off by the ending when the woman basically looked like she was vomiting lights in the air. I was a bit turned off by that. However, I absolutely loved what followed it, the whole sequence if portman vs the “thing” and how t simply mimicked her every move. The look of it was perfect to me, it had a very unsettling matter to it that had me on edge. However, when portman tricked it, I actually genuinly felt bad for it weird enough. So did the glimmer die at the end? That’s what it looked like.

 

Overall, I liked it very much. And after leaving the theater I immediantly wanted to see it again. I’d give it a solid A-, 9/10.

[75Live]

17 minutes ago, K1stpierre said:

 

 

Also, not too sure what the flashbacks of her cheating on her husband had to do with the story at hand. Was it coorelating to what the head lady (sorry, I’m bad with names) was saying about how people are always self destructing themselves vis drinking, drugs, or aka ruining a good marriage (she made some sort of comment about marriage, like she new portman was cheating). Was it just so the viewer had a deeper understanding of Portman’s character? It just felt weird as to me I liked the info, but didn’t know how it coorelated to what was happening.

 

 

 

yes she was cheating on her husband.  The husband knew, the head lady knew and yes it was part of her self destruction.  Plus it was one of the reasons she went into the shimmer.  It's why she was saying she owed it to him because she partly feels responsible for him going into it.

[K1stpierre]

10 minutes ago, 75Live said:

 

yes she was cheating on her husband.  The husband knew, the head lady knew and yes it was part of her self destruction.  Plus it was one of the reasons she went into the shimmer.  It's why she was saying she owed it to him because she partly feels responsible for him going into it.

Oh yeah, she was def cheating no doubt. I was just confused about what it had to do with the main plot line other then just knowing more about her character. 

 

 

 

Also on a side note, I wished we could have scene what happened to the girl that was growing plants on her arm. Are we to assume she ended up like the plant humaniod figures we saw? And if that’s the case, then all those were once real people?

[75Live]

3 minutes ago, K1stpierre said:

 

Also on a side note, I wished we could have scene what happened to the girl that was growing plants on her arm. Are we to assume she ended up like the plant humaniod figures we saw? And if that’s the case, then all those were once real people?

 

that's exactly what happened to her and yes those were all once people too, or at the least, some were at least people too  

[K1stpierre]

7 minutes ago, 75Live said:

 

that's exactly what happened to her and yes those were all once people too, or at the least, some were at least people too  

Interesting. I wonder if I missed why perhaps she turned into a plant and the others didn’t. Like was it just random? Or did she touch  something? And how did the guy get that live thin in his stomach? 

[75Live]

3 minutes ago, K1stpierre said:

Interesting. I wonder if I missed why perhaps she turned into a plant and the others didn’t. Like was it just random? Or did she touch  something? And how did the guy get that live thin in his stomach? 

 

as for the thing in the guys stomach, that was actually the guy being morphed and combined with whatever dna the shimmer gave him.

 

It's basically the same story with the girl.  She was examining the plants more than the others so she got "infected" by it.  Plus she kind of wanted to turn into the plant at that point and gave into it.  Basically since the shimmer was creating and combining things in all different ways, everyone got affected differently.  Not sure I can get into exact details more than that.  Although @Telehilation read the book so he may have other takes on it.

Edited March 6, 2018 by 75Live

[Dreamstar74]

 

[K1stpierre]

15 minutes ago, 75Live said:

 

as for the thing in the guys stomach, that was actually the guy being morphed and combined with whatever dna the shimmer gave him.

 

It's basically the same story with the girl.  She was examining the plants more than the others so she got "infected" by it.  Plus she kind of wanted to turn into the plant at that point and gave into it.  Basically since the shimmer was creating and combining things in all different ways, everyone got affected differently.  Not sure I can get into exact details more than that.  Although @Telehilation read the book so he may have other takes on it.

Huh, so I guess the shimmer mutates beings not just physically but one’s mental state takes a part in it? It’s interesting, also interesting at the flower girl if that was really her decision or if the shimmer had also in a sense made her lose her mind and give in.

[Dementeleus]

42 minutes ago, 75Live said:

 

as for the thing in the guys stomach, that was actually the guy being morphed and combined with whatever dna the shimmer gave him.

 

It's basically the same story with the girl.  She was examining the plants more than the others so she got "infected" by it.  Plus she kind of wanted to turn into the plant at that point and gave into it.  Basically since the shimmer was creating and combining things in all different ways, everyone got affected differently.  Not sure I can get into exact details more than that.  Although @Telehilation read the book so he may have other takes on it.

 

The book is very different in terms of plot specifics but even vaguer than the movie, lol. Josie was the only one who had a peaceful transition, though I suppose you could call it succumbing if you look at it from the other perspective. One way she was self-destructing was through her self-mutilation, so you could see her choice as some sort of new life coming from her darker thoughts and actions. 

 

Most (if not all) of those tree figures were just trees that had acquired the human Hox gene. Remember, the authorities had evacuated everybody (which means presumably almost everybody).

 

Not to push anyone towards a specific "right" interpretation of the movie, because I think it's constructed in a way that you bring your own meaning to things, but there are some very thoughtful essays/reviews from people who were cancer survivors or suffer from depression and what they took away from the movie:

 

http://www.filmfreakcentral.net/ffc/2018/02/annihilation.html

 

http://collider.com/annihilation-movie-explained/

 

http://www.vulture.com/2018/03/annihilation-movie-depression.html

 

https://filmcrithulk.blog/2018/02/27/annihilation-the-horrors-of-change/

 

Edited March 6, 2018 by Telehilation

[K1stpierre]

Chris!!! He’s exectly spot on to really my only criticism. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NhNJjvStrJM