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AnnihilationA biologist signs up for a dangerous expedition where the laws of nature do not apply.Netflix are releasing eighty original films on their platform this year. Annihilation is not one of them, whoever us in the UK can only see it on there. A little bit of history first: Based on the book by Jeff VanderMeer. The film was adapted for the screen by Alex Garland. He also directed it. His name might be familiar as he was the writer of The Beach and 28 Days Later. He also adapted Never Let Me Go and Dreed for the screen. He wrote and directed Ex Machina. Annihilation is his second directing gig. The film was originally shot a couple of years ago but was shelved after Paramount studios became nervous when test screenings came back with notes that deemed it “too intellectual” and “too complicated”. Then a war of words broke out between the producer and the financier at Paramount which resulted in Paramount signing away the rights to all territories except the US and China. So, in those two countries you can see it on the big screen. Everywhere else it is straight to Netflix.Now, after all those issues you could be thinking “Uh-oh! Straight to Netflix? That doesn’t sound good” and I would be inclined to agree. However, we would all be wrong. This film is an outstanding piece of Sci-Fi that twists logic and nature to create mind-bending results. Actually, to call it a Sci-Fi film would be demeaning it slightly as it is so much more. It blends family drama, romance, action, adventure, horror and even environmental issues. It skilfully takes all of those puts them in a blender and comes out with its own take on so many different ideals. The biologist, played by Natalie Portman, is thrown into a world she thinks she knows but doesn’t. This new thing that has arrived on Earth nicknamed The Shimmer are her and a small group of military personnel must go into The Shimmer to find out what it is but also why nobody comes back. I won’t say anymore on the storyline as to view it with as little detail as possible is the best way. I had no idea which way it was going to go next. It didn’t just twist & turn as a mystery film would, it also shocked and dumbfounded me as to what it was putting on screen. The near-wordless finale had me wide-eyed and struggling to breath.It is obvious that Annihilation takes its lead from many different genre films (A lot are plainly obvious to see). However, this doesn’t rip them off or homage them, instead it uses key elements to create its own thought-provoking movie. This is intelligent film-making. It is exciting film-making. I can’t wait to see it again and I’m wondering how this will fare in my end of year top 10 because I’ve seen nothing like this since Arrival and Inception. It is a shame we won’t get to see it on the big screen.Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk