ANNIHILATION: SPOILER REVIEW!

[@SceneOnFilm]

The movie was made when the other two books in the trilogy weren’t released yet, so Alex couldn’t have known certain things (like Nat’s character being Asian). He also stated the script is a sort of memory of the book, not a straight adaptation. A little strange way to go about it, but it works I think. Great video. You got a new subscriber.

[@AmandaTheJedi]

Destruction of the self to start new? There's so many layers going on in this movie that I almost feel I'll be making another video once my head makes it through everything. I made this video right after seeing the movie after a very long day so I woke up this morning with more thoughts and more questions. I woke up wanting to see it again to pay attention to small details and transitions in characters. Very good sign for this movie!

[@Manchuwook]

In the second book, you get the motivation for the psychologist and in the third you get real answers to what the insane sermon and the crawler is. None of which were mentioned in the movie. Though seriously, killing the alien with a phosphorus grenade? This is like punching Chthulhu in the dick, shotgunning a brewski, yelling 'F**k yeah, AMERICA!", and then the credits roll.

[@Sam_T2000]

Manchuwook I don't think is was the kind of movie that needed a sequel, or two. and I think they started making the movie before the second book was released... it would've been cool if there were some elements from the other books incorporated, but really, one movie is enough. and my interpretation wasn't that it was an actual sentient alien, just more of a phenomenon. does the book explicitly state it's an alien being?

[@Manchuwook]

*Super spoilery* ... ... ... Yes. When Saul gets visions in his fever dreams about fire destroying a planet and the life on it scattered across the stars. My going theory is Area X was created by Saul's madness manipulating the alien's transformations. The biological response of the flora/fauna wouldn't give a damn about 30 year old technology, but Saul would.

[@Manchuwook]

Non-spoilery-ish answer: Doesn't need sequels. The book doesn't even end in a satisfying way, that is what the charm of 'New Weird' is - there are no answers. There is no 'yay, the good guys beat the bad guys.' It's supposed to be _In the Mouth of Madness_ with the MC gibbering in a corner of a padded cell with crosses everywhere... not The Matrix 3.

[@deandrewalker6978]

I think Lena got out because she went in with the intention to get out with her husband. Anya, Josie, and Ventriss expected it to be a suicide mission. Cass may have survived had she not been caught off guard. Josie fantasized about dying in her life which is why she was so willing to be consumed by the Shimmer. Anya was angry and destructive in her life which is why she went insane and died violently. Ventriss put her job before anything and she was always concerned with the destination, not thinking beyond completing her missions. Lena's husband most likely killed himself because he knew Lena was cheating on him and felt he didn't have anything to go back to.

[@franklott834]

Yes. A movie about Death with very Eastern Mysticism endings for each character. The imagining of death each of them became mentally attached, to during the mission, became their personalized version of self destruction/annihilation.

[@dustroys7239]

It’s literally about cancer, the movie was to show exactly what cancer does to your body but this time in the form of earth having it, some run from it, some fight it, some accept it.

[@franklott834]

Dr Ventriss's Annihilation is a filmed depiction of my understanding of a person's death

[@franklott834]

The Weird scene were Dr Ventriss turns into thousands of particles of light and then into a big cloud of dust coalescing into a churning cloud with a glowing mandela psychedelic maw that hypnotizes Leana and then starts cloning her. This is the greatest Death Scene ever in a science fiction/fantasy movie

[@franklott834]

It's similar to my understanding of The Death of a person viewed through a lens of Buddhist Mysticism

[@martinsilva9877]

Been binge watching like your last 20 videos. Love the content Amanda. Also Annihilation was pretty good, big fan of the bear scene.

[@AmandaTheJedi]

That was definitely the most intense scene of the movie. It was genuinely terrifying

[@user-pz6kq2tv9m]

@@AmandaTheJedi the fact that she was in eternal pain. Caught in the exact same moment is f terrifying.

[@BrownCouchMovies]

Great review Amanda. I think The Psychologist, fully aware of her cancer and seemingly knowing more than the rest of the group about The Shimmer, used herself as a catatonic suicide mission. She knew the prism would refract her cancerous cells and thusly result in the shimmer imploding. I think the 'alien' was not particularly sentient but rather just an alien substance that is sort of just rewriting. It is a beautiful interpretation of damaging things that don't intend to damage (like cancer, or tornados). I loved your review and analysis here! I just ordered the book myself and you have me pretty stoked to read it. Love your hard cover copy! Hope you'll give my review a watch if you ever find yourself a few minutes :) don't mean to spam, would just enjoy your input. I'm certainly subscribed to you now! Thanks for sharing your thoughts Amanda! -George, also a Jedi.

[@silenthawk1556]

Here’s my observation of what the movie was trying to convey, I think this alien, could be considered the root of evolution but with some level of sentience, it learned from everything around it, but it had no objective, it was the embodiment of the urge to understand, it didn’t know what it was, it manipulated the very genes of everything, mixing them in these seemingly meaningless ways, to make something new, it’s like the alien had no purpose no reason to have reasons, and that’s why it mixed all the genetic code, to make something new, to change, like if you told someone, it’s wrong to kill, well.....what is the meaning of rules why does the universe have this system that dictates what it is or isn’t, basically it’s like having that moment where you ask yourself......why? Is the Question the answer?

[@AmandaTheJedi]

I'd agree. I think it hit earth and just did the same things it did wherever it was from. Clearly, we have things that work in similar ways here, parasites, viruses, but the way this worked was at an accelerated rate and had more of a 'destroy/alter to create' rather than alter to destroy.

[@silenthawk1556]

yeah, i actually thought of a good analogy for it, "Imagine if you were born with no father or mother, you would simply mimic anything around you, trying to understand it" anyway, thanks for your response :)

[@JusticeInGaming_JIG]

Allelljujah Amanda.....You are the 1st You Tuber who referenced the blooming to The Last Of Us.

[@AD-xz3ov]

The bear CGI totally threw me out of the movie as well as when her jaw was torn. I was thinking theyd do a more prosthetic approach to both. I loved the "screams" aspect though.

[@Sam_T2000]

Alexandru Dotan I think a lot of the bear stuff was practical effects...

[@AmandaTheJedi]

I actually really loved the bear. It's been a while since I've seen something that genuinely tense and chilling.

[@dirtydinner2432]

The psychological aspect of the book was entirely lost in the movie and it’s a shame. The movie was still great but it is nothing like the book.

[@lazerbrainzz]

I’m a total sci-fi geek and I wasn’t going to go see this, but I’m going too now.

[@AmandaTheJedi]

Lazer Brainz it's a different style sci fi for sure. It's very rooted in nature and mutations of it. I can't really relate it to anything else. I think a lot could have been done better but it leaves a lot of open ended questions which some people love and some people hate. It's a weird trip of a movie

[@CasiodorusRex]

The last 20 minutes are the best.

[@WeepyProphet]

Its amazing

[@heythere6983]

knowing all this blows all the real suspense and experience I'm glad I didn't hear a lot before I saw it , it blew my mind, but itl still be cool even if you know whats gonna happen lol

[@MegaroadProducciones]

If you love good sci-fi, read Roadside Picnic, and watch the 1979 Stalker movie. Here, there you got: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ini1dYymeNKAma8

[@jamesoldham9995]

The big plot hole for me was that they didn't simply take a boat and land on the beach right by the lighthouse instead of slogging through the mutant infested swamp.

[@zouj7640]

Early on in the movie they mention that they had already tried everything. Land, water, air (?), drones etc.

[@franklott834]

In view of what I have been learning about the hostility of interstellar space to life as we know it, any entity that could survive a journey from another solar system to Earth, would have to be unfathomable, like a Lovecraftian angel.

[@Panzy4life]

Thank you for the review! Needed something to listen/watch to really decompress what I just took in at the movie. Thanks! Just earned a new subscriber!

[@Sam_T2000]

I would've liked some more weird going crazy and losing time stuff, and like hints that what was happening and what their perception of things weren't exactly right... like at the beginning we hear that they were inside for 4 months, and they don't remember their first several days, but beyond that I don't think anything more was done with that concept. and I would've liked just some more playing around with the weird stuff in the Shimmer, like conscious plants or something, or just more creatures. and I don't know if I think there were actually sentient aliens... just a phenomenon. or was Ventress possessed by an alien at the end or what? I didn't need the sci-fi elements to be tied-up for me, but I would've liked slightly more resolution for Lena's personal journey.

[@AmandaTheJedi]

They say they were in for 4 days not 4 months. My guess is that it was the effects of the shimmer altering their DNA that made them lose the time. I know in the book it's a different thing that causes the blackouts that has nothing to do with the shimmer but I won't spoil in case you want to read it. In terms of creatures, I'd guess that the budget prevented them from adding more in. I think Lena's personal journey is left a bit open ended on purpose, but I agree. I know the second book dives a bit more into how things wrap up for her so maybe they left it slightly open for sequels? But I have a feeling this will stay as a solo film. It definitely leaves a lot for individual speculation.

[@Sam_T2000]

Amanda the Jedi in the first scene with Benedict Wong, he asks what they ate, because they were gone for 4 months, and Lena says is felt like "days, maybe weeks." maybe this is to imply that the mimic version of Lena was the one to come back? either way, I thought the idea of their skewed perception of time and reality was something that could've been explored more.

[@AmandaTheJedi]

I feel like you definitely lose your perception of time when you're in the shimmer. Sorry I thought you were just referring to when they first walked in when the rations let them know how many days they'd roughly been inside. I don't think they had a way to explain how it skewed their perception of time.

[@dazzy3603]

I cant wait to watch this movie, Thank you Amanda from your boy MrDAZ

[@FV-dd5bv]

Great review, and as much a sci fi fan that I am boy did i struggle to keep the action and plot together. The abstract themes and visuals were so convoluted and engrossing and then it was off to another scenario that was even more abstract. So overall the conclusion was an abrupt ending imo for such a visually beautiful and thought provoking movie. The movie felt like it was gonna at least spend the night with you and maybe stay for morning coffee but instead it left in the middle of the night with no real reason leaving you to put the pieces together on your own.

[@jacobm6617]

You should read the book!! Very very different but VERY good

this movie is beautiul as raw nature can be. Its a wonder

[@cjatrumpetmkultra]

I have a strong feeling that there won't be a sequel. And that really bothers me because I LOVED this movie

[@Sam_T2000]

Chester Arizmendi it doesn't need a sequel. like, Space 2010 was cool, but it was nothing compared to 2001.

[@franklott834]

Alex Garland said he isn't interested in doing sequels. Also, Annihilation is first book in a trilogy, so there is that.

[@l_combo]

Great review, thanks for sharing - largely agree with your thoughts. I wish there were more movies like this that made you think, any suggestions?

[@AmandaTheJedi]

I'm trying to think of stuff that isn't already pretty well known and popular. I feel a lot of Sci Fi films leave a lot of elements up for interpretation. Movies aren't usually left this ambiguous because it drives people crazy.

[@l_combo]

I've got no problem with it leaving us crazy, the director / writer's Google Talks video is up and he said he will never do a franchise, so this is the one and only from him on this topic.

[@megamoviez]

Best Movie of the year so far! A brilliant mind fuck with deep themes and terrifying elements!

[@AmandaTheJedi]

Agreed! I woke up yesterday wanting to watch it again in theatres. I think the more I sit on it, the more I expand on in my mind

[@notimportant3686]

really?... i thought it was ok, plus 2 extra points for being sci-fi genre

What about the skeletons in the ligthouse, who putted them there? Lena and ken are not the only ones

[@TravelersWarden]

The differences between the book and the movie tanked the movie for me and I ended up ranting about it on my channel's review.

[@AmandaTheJedi]

That's what I hear. I've realized over the years that if you hear a movie is being made about a book, to wait until after you see the movie. Movie's rarely meet the quality level of the novel, so you can appreciate both separately a little easier if you aren't constantly trying to compare things to the source material.

[@TravelersWarden]

Amanda the Jedi True. In this case, I had never imagined anyone even attempting to translate these into film, so I read them upon first publication and was shocked to hear that they had decided to adapt it.

[@hanzoftexas618]

The movie was good because it makes you think after you see the ending. You have to put the unanswered questions together because they don't get answered. Spoiler alert!!!!!! Coming at you now: Natalie Portman's character says we all came from one cell. So a higher being or God if you will started the cell and made all life on earth. Now an alien cell of different origin is sent to do the same but at a rapid rate and is programmed. This highly advanced cell is almost like another God taking over if you will. The chamber you see at the end is like an alien lab and control room. The mimic is a program and not the actual alien. It is made up of living matter but still a program. That is why it returned to the chamber and assimilated the fire. The alien cell reminds me of the engineer's virus from Prometheus, but more advanced. So Natalie Portman's character is infected with the cells. They are slowly rematching her cells within and replacing her til she is no longer herself but the alien cell itself. So the question left at the end is....Are the cells itself the alien or are the cells like an advanced virus that can be programmed? Did we see the engineers if you will or not????

[@CosmmiKOfficial]

just got back from seeing it, very great thoughts you have about the movie already, great review.

[@mandycat8]

I think that Lena’s mimic came back and the ending narrative is unreliable because of it. I think a lot of people missed that so they’re confused.

[@Sam_T2000]

susan cureton do you mean because her iris began to shimmer? she did notice her DNA was changing before she even made it to the lighthouse... so maybe it was the real Lena, but not quite the same Lena that went in. also, does the Kane who comes back not remember what happened to him because he was just disoriented, or because he never experienced the things that happened to Kane before he reached the lighthouse? and did the Kane from Lena's flashbacks have the accent he had in the lighthouse recording?

[@AmandaTheJedi]

I believe that Kane is disoriented because he never experienced the life, just has vague memories based on the real Kane's memories. He has no emotional connection to that world. His voice loses a lot of it's inflection when he's the 'copy' like he has the right voice but not the things that give the voice emotion. I think it's the real Lena, but clearly with severely altered DNA. So regardless of what went in, not the same that came out

[@AmandaTheJedi]

I saw the shimmer, I still personally attributed it to her DNA being altered while in the shimmer. Clearly whatever went in is not the same person who came out. I'm going to watch it again this week and pay more attention to details, see if they mention where they found her. if they say they found her inside the lighthouse remains, it's the copy, if they say they found her on the beach, probably not the copy, or if she just kind of reappeared like Kane-Copy. I can't remember if they specify, I feel like they didn't.

[@mandycat8]

When I say unreliable narrator I mean that the events in the lighthouse may not have played out the way she says it did. She was in the shimmer for six months, her reply’s to the interviewer in the beginning where almost identical to Kane’s when he arrived at the house. It’s only the way I see it, but it explains a lot in my mind and makes the ending more satisfying to me. I’ve watched every Alex Garland movie written or directed and I guess I expected that as the ending. I think that’s what makes the movie interesting, the debate over it and maybe it was just left to our interpretations.

[@Sam_T2000]

susan cureton I like this interpretation, but I think I would need at least one more wink or nod about that not being the real Lena... the eye thing isn't enough for me. and I didn't necessarily view the stuff happening in the main story only being what Lena was telling Benedict Wong...

[@ZakanaHachihaCBC]

If only the guy making the movie waited for all 3 books to come out before making the film. All 3 books came out in like the same year, but he got to making the film after the book came out.

[@user-pz6kq2tv9m]

It's on Netflix now

[@naroon5455]

I'm fairly certain the duplicate is the one who made it back. Natalie Portman had nothing to come home to, her real husband is dead, and she can't go back and love some kind of doppelganger. I think it's the same ending as space Odyssey.

[@AmandaTheJedi]

For me, no matter what or who came back, it wasn't the same person that went in.

[@naroon5455]

Amanda the Jedi very true. Hopefully finishing the book will shed some light on it. And then you could even talk about the differences between the two :)

[@Jay-vy2hg]

Naroon my thoughts too.

[@AmandaTheJedi]

Yes! I'm hoping to make some time to finish it up this week.

[@TiyanaMarieWrites]

I've seen another movie reviewer suggest that the reason Portman's character *would* want to return from The Shimmer is because she would, in a sense, have a chance to start anew--not with her actual husband but with his double. She hated herself for having an affair, but now that her husband is dead (and she's got a part of the alien DNA inside her), perhaps her guilt has died with him and she's finally giving herself the chance to "move on" while at the same time still having an, albeit mutated, piece of her husband to cherish. Kind of weird, tbh, but when you've been what she's been through...I guess anything's worth a shot after that. (Militant pun not intended.)

[@lucasgimenez3089]

me gusto la película...

[@notimportant3686]

6:08 sneaky scratch and sniff on auto pilot

[@Sam_T2000]

why didn't Lena and Ventress turn into plants? why didn't they just take a helicopter or a boat to the lighthouse?

[@AmandaTheJedi]

It seems like what peoples mental states affected what happened to them in the shimmer. When Lena is first talking to Ventress, Ventress says that they've tried entering it by both boat and from the air and they couldn't

[@Manchuwook]

If only they had experimented with herding hundreds of rabbits into Area X.

[@jakehembree7820]

The ending of the book was nothing like the movie either.

[@AmandaTheJedi]

Yeah that's what I've gathered from the other comments. I'll be working on making some time to finish up the book this week and get a start on the others for sure

[@TheVoltaire1]

i loved it. Saw it twice in theatres already. Has lots of plot holes though...like a lot. But the good parts were GREAT. So ended up loving it.

[@GamingonFiction]

I actually think reading the book first made me like the movie less. Not because of anything to do with the film itself, I really enjoyed it. But had the dramatic changes from the original story not been pecking away at me while I watched, I think I would have loved the film. They change so much, I'm not sure why they even titled it Annihilation. Literally a few more small changes and they could have saved paying for the novel's rights.

[@Trip4man]

What humans do? or is it more what life does? :) People don't see how much we have in common with nature or the universe... We didn't appeared out of thin air or by magic, yeah civilization and religion can make you blind... Maybe the movie is more for people with scientific background... The movie was kind of closed for me. They got out of the shimmer something... more. The husband was a copy of the former self and a little more alien. The wife came out but "infected", as she described what was happening to her DNA inside the shimmer. If you know something about the origin of species, we are made of atoms of dead stars (how DNA/Instructions/Code came about that's another story) so that makes us, in a way, all brothers and sisters - family. That's why they hug in the end. You always hug family xD Btw you're very cute! I'd like to assimilate you... To make XYZ chromosomes! For evolution purposes... Whattt? It's a jokee. But seriously... for science?! xD

[@alexcarfagno5681]

4 min in and your not explaining what movie is about....

[@AmandaTheJedi]

I guess it was more of a spoiler discussion.

[@jeffreywarner6023]

Natalie Portmans character never made it out! She has a tattoo on her forearm when they are interviewing her! It’s shows throughout the movie that only the copies have this tattoo. It also specifically shows her forearm just after they enter the shimmer and she doesn’t have the tattoo going in.

[@AmandaTheJedi]

Jeffrey Warner she gets he tattoo before that scene at the lighthouse though. She started feeling a 'bruise' in her arm early in the movie and the skin in that area starts to discolour. She also gets the tattoo before the final scene. Pretty sure it's on her arm after she's alone wandering around? I thought they were all getting the tattoo as their DNA was being affected. I didn't think it signified that they were a copy, just that they'd been infiltrated by the environment the same way as the plants and animals. I don't think it was the 'copy' but I'm sure she's been changed in such a significant way while being there that would it really still be 'her' anyways?

[@alicehunt9115]

If it wasn't a "copy" of her, it did definitely change her. You can see it in her eyes. They show his eyes as they hug then hers and the eyes are doing the same thing.

[@AmandaTheJedi]

Alice Hunt oh yeah she's definitely changed, I think that was obvious even before seeing her eyes at the end. They establish that their DNA was being affected, I can't imagine that disappearing the second they leave the shimmer

[@shoua7]

Someone noted that Ventress gets the arm tattoo from the dead soldier, then Lena later gets it from Ventress.

[@chipieb0i107]

It’ll be on Netflix in like a month.

[@megamoviez]

Eleven Bobby Brown It actually is overseas

[@chipieb0i107]

Eleven Bobby Brown I’m not trolling or negative. Here in the US it’s actually gonna be on Netflix soon lol..

[@AmandaTheJedi]

Is it North America as well? I thought it was just going to Netflix overseas

[@qncsc]

there are movies that are fully realized and more easily appreciated if seen in the theater. the high visual content of this film makes the theater the best selection. Netflix is an inferior option, meant for the rest of the world who are cheated out of the experience and can only watch it on a small screen. if you have the option .... theaters!