22. CTHULHU’S COHORT: Wrap your tentacles round a “bizarre fiction” story.
Annihilation
Anybody inside a 100-mile radius of a bookstore has heard of Jeff VanderMeer’s blockbuster Southern Attain sequence by now, but when you have not learn the primary entry, Annihilation, you may not know that it has a Lovecraftian penchant for the cosmic and unexplainable.
Love him or “meh” him, director Alex Garland (Males, Ex Machina, Civil Conflict) picks gutsy tasks. The 2018 movie adaptation of Annihilation is a stable instance of this. It follows a bunch of girls scientists who embark on an implied suicide mission into Space X, aka St. Marks Nationwide Wildlife Refuge in Florida, the place “the Shimmer” has created freakish mutations in surrounding wildlife. St. Marks is within the panhandle, a anxious little slice of Florida, even with out mysterious scientific anomalies.
Natalie Portman stars as biologist Lena, whereas Jennifer Jason Leigh is the extraordinary, mental Dr. Ventress. (Not solely does Annihilation go the Bechdel take a look at with flying colours, it is also one of many solely movies I’ve seen that nearly passes the reverse Bechdel take a look at: Males have little or no display time and do not continuously converse to one another.)
All the girls on the mission have been beforehand traumatized. Dependancy, most cancers, and loss of life are features of their tales. These experiences have delicate impacts on how they reply to the Shimmer’s eerie, DNA-distorting energy. Because the group ventures additional into the marshland, they encounter murderous mutant creatures and start to note unsettling modifications in themselves.
The movie’s crescendo is staged in a lighthouse, the place Lena is compelled to confront her faceless, shimmering doppelganger. The scene turns into a fancy dance of alternative: She should both transcend her shadow self, or dissolve into the Shimmer completely. Lovecraft would possible have her select the latter. Annihilation‘s finish is much extra fascinating.
The Stranger is taking part in Scarecrow Video’s Psychotronic Problem all month lengthy! Each October, Scarecrow places collectively an inventory of cinematic themes and invitations people to observe alongside and watch a horror, sci-fi, or fantasy flick that meets the factors. This yr, Stranger staffers are becoming a member of the enjoyable and we’re sharing our every day suggestions right here on Slog! Learn extra about Scarecrow’s 2024 problem—and get the watch record—right here. And you’ll observe our every day suggestions right here! 💀
