‘Annihilation’ peeks into a world within a world

When scientist Josie Radek (Tessa Thompson) explains to colleagues, “The Shimmer is a prism, but it refracts everything,” she could well refer to Andrei Tarkovsky, the Russian director whose filmography limned the borders of worlds within our worlds. Annihilation reminds cineastes that in a country whose politics and shriveled simulacra of “conversations” get refracted through the anticipated reactions of the Oval Office occupant the existence of parallel realities more familiar – more dangerous – than our own isn’t the stuff of sci-fi. Writer-director Alex Garland’s adaptation of Jeff VanderMeer’s novel is an elegant piece of filmmaking: sinister and brooding. What the last act coheres into isn’t spelled out, which may leave you thinking it’s Stalker meets Predator. Let it simmer in the back of your mind, however, and Annihilation looks more and more like a fully realized cult classic — and it’s okay to peg it as Stalker meets Predator.

The dullest thing about the film is its reliance on the stock scenes in which the hero, adjusting to the loss of a partner, remembers pillow talk and tender moments. Natalie Portman plays Lena, a biologist who has to follow husband and Army Special Forces soldier Kane (Garland favorite Oscar Isaac) through the mysterious Shimmer, an experience that left him ill and brain damaged. Kane is the only one who returned, explains Dr. Ventress (Jennifer Jason Leigh). Leading a squad that consists of Ventress, paramedic Anya Thorensen (Gina Rodriguez), and scientists Josie Radeck (Tessa Thompson) and Cassie Sheppard (Tuva Novotny), Lena penetrates the world of The Shimmer, where, naturally, things aren’t what they seem. Time breaks down. Technology fails. The wilderness has a Pre-Cambrian hue of intensest green.

Those expecting confrontations between humans and savage creatures won’t be disappointed by Annihilation. An alligator crossbred with a shark — it has row upon row of murderous teeth — lunges at them, its initial languorous movements caught with Rousseau-ian menace by cinematographer Rob Hardy. Later, some sort of cross between a bear, boar, and tapir that emits terrifying human-like shrieks (why it does I won’t spoil); it’s a scene that makes Jurassic World look like a McDonald’s play set. Other wonders are on the shall we say lysergic side: no marmalade skies but plenty of plasticine trees, multicolored ones, which may represent another evolutionary step for humans.

Watching actresses playing biologists and sociologists as fully inhabited professionals in a script by a male director is a thrill, and despite its middling box office Annihilation played the same weekend as Black Panther: a sturdy twosome representing the underrepresented. After years of projecting neurasthenic chic, Portman comes through with a star turn that’s serious and understated. It’s also nice to watch Jennifer Jason Leigh play a human being without resorting to the mannerisms many of her directors encourage. Rodriguez and the always watchable Thompson offer solid support.

I wasn’t fond of Garland’s last film, 2015’s Ex Machina, which had the air of concentrated self-amusement, i.e. “I have a budget, good actors, and I can make my own AI flick.” Annihilation also lumbers with the weight of received ideas, but it has confidence; it gets where it’s going. I suspect the film turned out the way Garland wanted to.

GRADE: B