Embedded Files
By Sophia Doshi
I love Natalie Portman. I cannot think of another actress who could have embodied Lena's character better than her. She is smart and courageous, as her past movie characters have been–soe examples being Padmé Amidala and Jacqueline Kennedy. Lena leads a group of women, each with a story that gives them something to die for, and she guides them into an alien "shimmer" that has taken over a national forest.
For one, the cinematography of the movie was incredible. The CGI was carefully crafted, and the color-grading made every scene hyper-realistic (and scary when they were supposed to be). As was said in the movie, it could be terrifying, but at some moments, it was beautiful. I found myself unable to look away during the eerie sequences, such as when the alligator is about to maul a group member before Lena does her usual badass move. She sprays bullets at the alligator-shark hybrid, and they move on through the Shimmer. I was also incredibly intrigued by how nature mirrored each woman when they were in the abandoned house because the shimmer interacts and absorbs everything that is within it. It was morbidly interesting while I watched Josie Radek become one of those bush-people; she arguably chose the most peaceful way out and didn't have to deal with the rest of the routes that others took.
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The movie was an interesting allegory for how trauma molds people, as traumatic experiences it takes something away from a trauma victim and also leaves something with them. This is seen especially with Lena and Kane, as Lena was able to escape the Shimmer but, as seen at the end of the film, her eyes 'shimmer' (pun intended) when she hugs Kane. Althrough she escapes the Shimmer (the traumatic experience), there is still a piece of it with her.
She was also affected differently than Kane, as she was still the same original version of herself that went into the Shimmer (but there's speculation about this). Contrastingly, the version of Kane that exited the Shimmer was the alien copy of him, which begs the question: is this the same Kane that Lena could love again or does this Kane threaten Lena? The ambiguity of the ending almost reminds me of the open-ended ending of Inception. I also am interested to know how deeply the Shimmer altered Lena and Kane on a cellular level, because they experiences the Shimmer at different times and with different intensity. Lena remarks during the movie about how, in addition to the environment being changed, all the organisms' genetics are changed on a cellular level. Does this mean Lena's alterations make her alien?
However, Annihilation isn't just the manifestation of trauma; many different interpretations of the film have been put forth by the writers and fans alike. The underlying themes of returning whence we came, mother nature's lifecycle, atoning for sin and self-destruction. Dr. Ventress, the macabre psychologist in the film, tells Lena, "I think you're confusing suicide with self-destruction. Almost none of us commit suicide, and almost all of us self-destruct...You're a biologist. Isn't the self-destruction coded into us? Programmed into each cell?" You can also turn the film name on its head and call it 'self-annihilation'. It is also argued (on the internet, mostly) that self-destruction comes into play when people face trauma, and while trying to put themselves back together, the trauma inadvertently tears them apart. So you could ask if their journey into the Shimmer was a suicide mission, or rather, if they were destined to self-destruct all along.
Something else I found of note: How did Lena figure out that Ventress had cancer? I'd venture to guess that the psychologist's own self-destructive tendencies cued her in, but how else would Lena have discerned this? Was there a physiological tell that Ventress had? I don't know. Then again, the way that Ventress went mad in the heart of the Shimmer and suddenly allowed its essence to enter her body made sense, as her body was failing and perhaps she wanted to experience her last days and moments in her control.
And then there are the two eeriest scenes in the whole movie: that with the mutated bear, and the (arguably) scarier one with Lena's Shimmer double. Due to internet spoilers (some of them were of my own volition), I knew that Cass Sheppard's voice would be haunting the narrative from the bear's maw. I think the more uncanny thing about the whole scene was how Anya (the one that went crazy–sorry girl!) was so convoluted that she self-destructed (that word again, huh) when she tried to fight the bear. The ripping of the jaw was definitely NOT my favorite part.
The scarier scene started when Lena viewed the camera footage in the lighthouse and watched her husband blow himself up with a phosphorous grenade. After he goes kaboom, an identical copy of Kane looks back at the camera. That sent goosebumps up through my skin. To think that I had no idea why Kane was still there, and that would all be revealed to me very soon. The realization that the Kane back at the base outside of the Shimmer wasn't actually Kane, and neither was the Kane that visited Lena (very creepily, I might add) shook me to my core. I'm getting chills just writing about it. So, imagine how I simply couldn't pry my eyes away during the sequence that Lena was 'fighting' her double, even though the double was mirroring everything she was doing. I couldn't quite glean why the double would mirror her perfectly, then sometimes not follow her movements at all. Additionally, if the double was actually an intelligent life force and the Shimmer could analyze data taken from its environment, how did the double not know that being handed a phosphorous grenade was bad news? There's probably an explanation for that somewhere; I'll just go down a rabbit hole.
Image from Game Rant
I watched the movie alone in the dark and I ended up pretty shaken up by this film, which means Alex Garland, Natalie Portman and Oscar Isaac did a stellar job. I don't think I'll forget about this movie anytime soon.
P.S. I watched Jane the Virgin long before this, so seeing Gina Rodriguez playing Anya was a trip.
Cover image from Wallpaper Cat
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