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Films » Annihilation

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There’s a lot to like in Annihilation. Natalie Portman is brilliant at portraying mental anguish (which isn’t a surprise, having seen Black Swan). Having four female leads is refreshing. The plot and visual style are interesting.

But there’s also a lot that drags it down. Most of the characters are pretty flat. There’s a lot of flash-backs/forwards that don’t really seem to add anything other than unnecessary exposition and a reminder that men do, in fact, exist. I feel like I use the word “meandering” a lot in my reviews, but in Annihilation they literally physically meander while the plot meanders. And while the plot was interesting, it strained my suspension of disbelief in a few places.

I feel like this had the potential to be in the same ball park as Interstellar or Arrival, but didn’t quite manage to execute on it.

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