Cinematic representatives of the science fiction genre cannot be said to greatly delight fans with their abundance, variety or depth of elaboration. For the most part, these are not intricate action films or adventures in a futuristic setting, which, although well made, often do not feel like original works. However, among them it is quite easy, in view of the above-mentioned lack of abundance, to find extremely pleasant exceptions. The clear favorites, of course, include Denny Villeneuve, who ennobled the genre with his works: “Arrival” (2016) and “Blade Runner 2049” (2017). Now, in the pantheon of genre favorites, Alex Garland is quite confidently winning his place, notable for his work as a screenwriter on projects such as “28 Days Later” (2002) and “Inferno” (2007), as well as disarming critics with his directorial debut, entitled “Ex Machina” (2014).
It’s worth noting first of all, before we dive into the jungle of Garland’s latest work, that, as in the case of both Ex Machina and Annihilation, Alex Garland worked as both a screenwriter and director, which directly affects the integrity and perception of these films.
But the time has come to focus on the hero of today’s celebration (and there is no way to describe this except with the word “Triumph”) – on “Annihilation”.
It is very important to know that the film’s budget is a total of 40 million. US dollars. Thus, this film falls into that category of products where every cent spent is important and all resources are used as efficiently as possible. The work of the production designer and the people responsible for special effects is especially noticeable. The visual solutions in the film, as well as the choice of scenery, create an extremely fascinating, melancholy and even creepy atmosphere. Just look at the consequences of the mutations that the film’s heroines find in the pool of an abandoned military base.
I will allow myself the audacity to destroy the intrigue around the title of the film, because, already starting from it, you can understand that the film relies extremely heavily on interpretation, subjective experience and duality of perception. Annihilation (the Russian and English versions of the film use the same word in the title and with identical meaning) has at least two meanings:
In the first meaning, the word annihilation directly means “destruction” in any form.
In the second, it is a term that denotes the process of converting matter into energy (in particular, through the collision of particles and antiparticles).
However, the film proposes to consider this term in another meaning, where psychological overtones are added to “destruction,” reflecting both humanity’s desire for self-destruction in general, and the suicidal tendencies of individuals as a result of experienced psychological trauma in particular. In other words, the film loudly acknowledges the fact that a person who has lost all strength and motivation to continue living is prone to suicide. However, there is a second option, which can be called “passive suicide” or “annihilation” – when a person is not able to kill himself, but at the same time takes part in situations that doom him/her to death. It is precisely these tendencies that are exhibited by members of the squad of heroines who went to the “flicker”.
“Flickering” is an anomalous zone formed https://sportsbettingmedia.co.uk/ around the site of a meteorite fall. At the time the events of the film begin, although several trained research groups have already been sent inside, no one knows what is actually happening there. As a result, both in tone and in style and in a number of themes, the film resembles both the novel by the Strugatsky Brothers, and the film “Stalker” by Tarkovsky, and even the series of the game S.T.A.L.K.E.R. from the Ukrainian studio GSC Game World.
The preamble of the film, even from the very beginning, emphasizes the analogy with a disease such as cancer, the mechanisms of which Lena popularly explains to us at the very beginning. Thus, cancer cells themselves are mutated cells, cells that are duplicates of healthy cells, which have gone astray from their standard program and, instead of promoting cell renewal, treatment, and regeneration of the body, are trying to kill it. And the mutations that occur with the flora and fauna inside the flicker, transforming seemingly familiar landscapes and inhabitants beyond recognition and the “duplication” ultimately expressed in the final form of the alien organism, personify this, unfortunately, quite frequent, and therefore ordinary, but extremely unusual, and even paradoxical process that occurs inside many living organisms on our planet.
“Flickering” in all its characteristics in general, and in particular manifestations, is the same analogy of a cancerous tumor.
Actually, the events of the film are a direct story of the main character Lena about what actually happened. To many reviewers, this technique seemed rather hackneyed and depriving of suspense, while, in my humble opinion, it not only does not diminish the dramatic intensity, but also fully reflects the main theme of the film, mixing reflection and a sense of doom transmitted to the viewer by the characters they are watching.
The problem with many modern films of the “science fiction” genre often lies in the fact that this very “science fiction” is exclusively a “background” – an environment against which rather ordinary events unfold that would not change in essence if they took place in another world, at another time and in another place. It is very rare that filmmakers, having chosen the future as the setting for their films, use it to the maximum, making it an important part of the narrative, and, moreover, the central idea of the entire film. For example, the film “Edge of Tomorrow” (2014), although it is a pretty good action movie and an interesting play on the idea created in “Groundhog Day,” still, with all this, could have taken place in the past, against the backdrop of any of the real wars that took place, or even in a fantasy setting, and the hero’s ability to relive the same day again could be determined by any reasons – the idea, the development of the plot and the consequences would have nothing to do with it. this would not have changed either ideologically or plot-wise.
Annihilation, in turn, completely devotes itself to its genre and setting, relying to the greatest extent on the word “sci-fi”, as any exemplary science fiction should. In general, the film has very many similarities with such works of Tarkovsky as “Solaris” (1972) and “Stalker” (1979). These works as a whole are less adventures and more reflective psychological studies of people. This is reflected in the atmosphere, the central themes, and the emphasis on character dialogue. However, in Annihilation there is a strong emphasis on visual perception. With all this, while watching, the viewer never leaves the “excitement” of research, at the same time anxious anticipation and fear of what may be revealed to him. It is this competent combination that makes it interesting not only to study and discuss the film, but also to watch it. Among other things, the visuals and color schemes are extremely unusual and seem to be specially selected so as to literally contrast with what the film is about and what happens in it. This contrast contributes to the aforementioned duality of perception at the moment of viewing. On the one hand, this colorful picture seems to convince viewers of the absence of some kind of antagonism and hostility of the environment towards the heroes. But, nevertheless, this does not mean that there is no danger! The danger for the heroes feels more “natural,” so to speak, and understandably, while manifesting itself in the most unnatural conditions and unusual forms.
The film also has a number of similarities with the stories of Howard Phillips Lovecraft. In his works, he explores the idea of "ancient", alien beings that some groups of people are beginning to worship. All representatives of the race of the ancients are completely different, but they are all united by one single goal – acquiring knowledge and moving to a higher level of existence – transformation into energy. Actually, this is exactly what happens to the psychologist, Dr. Ventress, in Annihilation. She was the only one of the entire team, although she was doomed due to her illness (cancer), first of all she wanted not to die, but to find out what was in the center of the flickering – in the lighthouse. Actually, her desire for knowledge and the doom of her physical shell lead to the final result – she turns into energy. Players may be familiar with this theme from the game Bloodborne, where everyone who studied the Ancients struggled to achieve knowledge bordering on madness and plunged into dreams, while those same Ancients sought to move to a new stage of existence by converting them into energy.
The analogies don’t end there. Lovecraft is considered the founder of “Lovecraftian horror” or, as it is also called, cosmic horror. This is a genre in which the center is not a fear of something specifically (like the living dead and other paranormal creatures, which are separate sources of fear in themselves), but of the unknown, of something that cannot be understood and explained. The work of this genre centers on psychology, “madness” and loss of sanity. Moreover, “cosmic” horror is so named because it is associated with the myths of Cthulhu, who is one of the “ancients” who arrived from deep space. Annihilation is also based on the fear of the unnatural, the unknown and the inexplicable. In Annihilation, the psychology and shaky psyche of the characters lies in exactly the same way. And also, in Annihilation, the source of all changes is a similar creature that arrived from outer space. A creation that does not have a specific form, main purpose and clearly defined behavior patterns. In fact, the source of fear of such creatures, in addition to the immediate danger, is also the inability to discern the motivation behind the actions of these creatures. Especially if their immediate desire is not the desire to kill. Again, familiar themes from Bloodborne or Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corner’s of rge Earth.
Of course, the film “Annihilation” is unusual both for its visual design, style and special effects, and for its excellent cast, who play their characters at an extremely high level. It is unusual in its vision of science fiction and the themes it addresses. But another important feature that makes this film notable is its direct production! The film was entirely created under the flagship Netflix and released by them. In addition to the huge number of high-quality, diverse and interesting series released on the basis of this platform, a number of worthwhile, well-executed, unusual and interesting films have already been released, such as: “Our Souls at Night” (Ritesh Bartha, 2017), “The Founder” (John Lee Hancock, 2016) or “Brightness” (David Ayre, 2017).
All this proves one very important idea – cinema is not only developing, but it is no longer tied to the bosom of cinemas, the success of a film does not depend on box office and, to a lesser extent, on marketing companies, and the final decision is no longer based on focus group reviews or soulless statistics: “Whether to make this or that film or series”. Now, freedom of creativity and implementation is at an unprecedented level, which will allow more and more talented people to realize their potential in the field of cinema, and audiences around the world, with incredible ease, to enjoy the results of their labors.