Early on in Alex Garland’s 2018 film, Annihilation, one of the characters remarks that each of the five women that comprise the films central cast are, “damaged goods”. What is meant here is that each of these characters is afflicted with some form of cancer, not necessarily in the biological sense of the word, but rather in the abstract interpretation of the word. Each of these characters has something they’re trying to come to terms with, something self-destructive in their lives. Annihilation is a film that’s about coming to terms with our own self-destructive impulses.
The story of Annihilation is centred around, “the shimmer”, a large unknown and ever-expanding phenomenon that’s slowly swallowing the land around it. This is very clearly a metaphor for cancer. Nothing that enters the shimmer ever comes out, and what occurs inside is a mystery.
The film follows five scientists as they enter and explore the shimmer, and attempt to uncover the source of the phenomenon. As stated before, each of these characters has been damaged in some way; be it cheating in a relationship, depression and self-harm, alcohol addiction, loss of a family member, or even actual biological cancer. Each of these characters has some sort of self-destructive impulse that they are trying to repress.
As the characters venture further into the shimmer they begin to see the environment morph around them. The world around them; the plants, the wildlife, etc. begin to mutate. These mutations range from absolutely beautiful to absolutely horrific. It’s not just the environment that changes though, as the film progresses the main characters start to change too. All this mutation and change is a further metaphor for cancer, and how it can enact severe change within its host.
Everyone reacts differently to the, “cancer”, that is the shimmer. Some try to fight it, others try to face it, and others simply accept it. When faced with the truth of their own self-destructive tendencies, these characters are forced to come to decision. Similarly, this posits that we, as people, cannot simply ignore the various cancers in our lives. At the climax of the film when Lena comes face-to-face with the extraterrestrial that mimics her every move we are hit with the realization: the cancer is not something separate from us, it is a part of us. It’s both alien and human, our own self turned against us.
Annihilation is a film about the destruction of self, be it physical or meta-physical. Our own self-destructive tendencies morph our very beings and we need to come to terms with that in some way. Do we face it, accept it, or fight it? This is a film that uses the surreal to bring to focus, our own worst habits, and it is utterly fascinating.
Joel Vs Film 