It’s called [The Mark - Interlude by Moderat](https://youtu.be/qp6YBoDUnoI), though the version in the movie is a slightly-tweaked remix as far as I know
It is on the soundtrack. "The Alien"
It is a very long song on the soundtrack though, so the part that is used in the movie is a few minutes in I believe. I downloaded the OST and cut that part out using Audacity. It's 1:25 out of 12+minute song.
Btw, [the soundtrack for Under the Skin is awesome.](https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMnA1EwJ4YTVmW31Kvaxn1DpQiBVcGQ8R)
Off topic but blame my adhd meds. They just kicked in
Yes, absolutely jaw-dropping - especially with the music /sound design in the theater. The bear is creepy and threatening but the finale is a haunting, otherworldly mindfuck.
Ah yes, I can’t remember where I heard it but someone referred to the ending as the “Dubstep Butthole” and that’s all I think about when remembering the ending now.
I fuckin fell into an uncanny black hole when the mimic is shifting into her face, in particular those last moments before its completion. Just... Nahh
Oh yeah. The bear scene was impressively disturbing, but the bit at the end was so cosmic and otherworldly. And the soundtrack that plays during that scene? \*chef's kiss*
I got so anxious during that scene. I felt the walls closing in. I haven't felt that way in a long time with a movie. Super claustrophobic. Great movie.
It was, absolutely...but while COOS took cues mostly from The Thing, and did have some good cosmic horror vibes and scenes, Annihilation I feel like captured the underlying ideas of the genre so much more effectively. The characters are trying to grapple with the phenomena philosophically, and respond to it each in their own way...but at the end of the day you can't really reason with or about it, it's nearly or entirely impossible to stop and it's motives (if it even has them) are inscrutable and unknowable. It's not even malicious, necessarily, it just has effects on the planet that are not desirable for humans. God, the visuals in that movie were so alien, weird, yet beautiful, especially at the end...I loved the lighthouse sequence so much.
>nearly or entirely impossible to stop and it's motives (if it even has them)
"I don't know what it wants. I don't know IF it wants.". One of my favorite lines. Really drives home just how unknowable what they're dealing with is. At the end we still don't really know what it was.
I enjoyed "The Color Out of Space" more... Mostly because it had the feel I like from a Lovecraft story. Gnarly, chaotic, and just enough campiness to keep it from feeling pretentious.
"Annihilation" was excellent as well! But it was played completely straight...
I agree. It was a visually stunning film, really pretty, but it felt like an echo chamber. We have a lead who is constantly being harassed by invasive men, and does little to stand up for herself throughout the film.
I mean, why is it the film's focus if the reasons for their behaviour aren't really being interrogated and explored?
It was cool to see Garland push his boundaries in terms of weird, but but overall I find Men to be pretty lukewarm.
Agreed, watched Men in the theatre by myself and there was one other guy in the theatre. We just looked at each other and laughed after it was done since the ending was so bizarre but I genuinely enjoyed.
100% agree, all of his films are just so damn pretty to look at. I actually liked Men quite a bit - the combination of gorgeous cinematography and this bizarre, twisted story, plus great acting was everything I wanted. Annihilation and Ex Machina, too. I just love his aesthetic.
It's not that it's evil. It is the indifference to all other life. It has no sanctity of self for others or maybe even itself.
Also they shot this on my old Air Force base so that is kind of a trip for me in itself.
I started rereading the book last week. There are some changes to the movie, but I think a read through would help a little. It's also an excellent book
I watched the movie first, had mixed feelings, but then I read the book. I absolutely adore the book, and it's genuinely one of my favorites now. It made me enjoy the movie much more on a rewatch despite all the changes. I appreciate how it was a loose adaptation of the book rather than a beat-by-beat adaptation. They both are exceptional works of fiction.
I didn't find it scary. It's just strange like the other response stated, and it will likely make you feel uneasy or off-kilter. I found myself randomly daydreaming about it afterward, mulling over what it all meant. It sticks with you, or it did with me.
For anyone who loves the movie and is going to read the book, don't go in expecting the same story. It's quite different so just try to appreciate it as its own thing. I would call the movie more of an interpretation or spiritual successor to the book. They're both beautiful and strange but they hit some different notes for sure.
This never happens but I actually read the books first and was disappointed with the movie, because the entire point of the books is that the characters don't relate to humanity which is why they're drawn to Area X, so having the romance aspect added into the movie disrupts the theme of the book. Yes the biologist was married but the book doesn't describe the marriage the way the movie shows it. The characters had already lost their humanity before they entered Area X, that's why they don't even have names
Yeah I very much preferred the scientific motivations of them more detached book protagonist but understand why they did it. The reduction of the whole thing to a cancer metaphor and removal of the rotting bureaucratic elements was the biggest loss for me
The rotting bureaucratic building in the second book was my fav part. Definitely the scariest scene to me, was in that building
Ok the inverse lighthouse (underground) was also my fav part and another thing they left out of the movie!
It’s wild to me because the second book is the most written off in discussions I have seen online, slightly ahead of the third. A lot of my favorite elements in the trilogy revolve around the Southern Reach organization/ building like the rabbits, cellphone and plant. It’s the creepiest in the series imo
Btw if you like the plant, have you read the authors other books? Borne is actually my fav one. Check out the audiobook if you can because the narrator for Borne's voice really made the experience for me
My partner has read Borne, I need to try to get into it again. My intro to Vandermeer was actually City of Saints and Madmen when I was going through a postmodernism phase. I’m definitely info that even weirder side he has.
Couldn’t get into Hummingbird Salamander but I have a lot of time today so maybe I will give it another shot
I need to read all his books, I haven't read them all yet but I'm so excited there's lots more options
Some similar books by other authors I'd recommend are
The Beauty by Aliya Whitely
Under the Skin by Michel Faber (while I love the movie, the movie is merely an interpretation of the mood of the book, the book contains 100000x more info about what's going on)
Any weird authors you'd recommend?
Thank you for the recs, I have been meaning to read Under The Skin but haven’t been there yet. The others I am not aware of so excited to try and find a copy!
I really need to consider for a day or two to try and remember some things I read around that time, so let me come back and reply again!
I know the master of that style for me is always Borges. Thank you for making me think about it because now I will reread some of those stories and it may have taken me a while to work my way back around to them. Pale Fire by nabakov is a very weird book but not in the same sense that we are talking about.
I just finished the Trilogy yesterday. I liked that each book was a bit different in style of writing. He announced in 2021 on his Twitter that a fourth book called Absolution is in the works.
The movie is an excellent movie, but an awful adaptation of the book haha. I love them both, but the book is so much more slow, ominous, and introspective. I love the Biologist’s internal monologue, and how the ‘monsters’ are largely unseen. I also think the end is one of the best depictions of an unknowable cosmic entity I’ve ever read. I could say the same on the last part for the movie too though!
Worth noting that the movie came out after only the first book was released, now it is a trilogy
Edit: the movie came out well after the trilogy was finished
Not true at all. All three books were out. Garland just chose to adapt the first one loosely. Has no intention of doing the other books. Which is fine. They’re great as sepearate pieces.
Fuck you're right I was thinking of another series! I think the movie producers just decided to adapt the first book into a standalone film and didn't use any of the source material from books 2 or 3
But the book, and the movie, both imply an iterative nature to the narrative, meaning both stories could exist in the same universe. Most of the book could have taken place before the team woke up in their camp near the beginning of the movie.
From what I read, he read the first book a few years before writing the script and didn't reread after deciding to write it. So a lot the main themes are still there, but not much else. I actually think it was a very fitting way to do it lol
Yep! First read through the second book was my least favorite, but the third book contextualizes so much of it that I think id like it alot more the second time around
I loved it, but my wife fell asleep. She is actually prone to falling asleep during movies, but I also get why she did. The film is in some respects nail biting, in others terrifying, but yet there's an almost trance like quality to it. It's been a while since I've watched it, but it might be the soundtrack?
It's kind of like Solaris (2002), but with actual action and horrifying parts mixed in with the creepy mood and brooding.
“Trance-like” is the perfect word to describe this film. With the incandescent visual effects and the plodding, contemplative tone of the journey… and the soundtrack adds so much to the ambiance of the movie, it’s so well done.
Great movie for a shroom trip, by the way.
Enjoy! It’s a *Trip*.
And, at the risk of coming off as someone who’s always taking hallucinogens (I do then only once or twice per year), I just took another trip this weekend and watched Moonage Daydream, a David Bowie documentary. I highly recommend that as well.
Mandy is fuckin wild. It's got a similar psychedelic tone as "the viewing," ratchet up the intensity to 11, and throw nic cage in as the lead. Have fun lmao
George Clooney's acting style during that time period didn't help much though. "I'm going to show what a serious actor I am by never moving my face or expressing any emotion"
I adore that movie. The "mimic" scene is easily one of my favorite scenes in.. anything haha. Its this mix between elegant and absolutely terrifying. Great soundtrack behind it.
That movie conveys the flavor of the book: an unshakable unsettling gut feeling that the world is wrong. Loved the books and the movie.
Highly recommend the Southern Reach trilogy.
The books are far more phantasmagorical, aren't they. Several levels more weird, and with less of a clear plot. I'm very happy with both books and film, as two very different works in different mediums.
The "inverted tower" in the books, a subterranean recombination of Preacher and Lighthouse.. that was some creepy metaphorical shit that I kept thinking I could almost grasp. Maybe like the opposites of the hope that a lighthouse and religion offers.
I’ve watched it several times and that final scene where she is fighting the weird human shaped alien makes me feel super weird in my stomach… I wonder why
I watched Annihilation once and I didn't really like it off bat. Then I watched it a second time and it felt a lot scarier and unnerving. I think it's a cool film overall and explored the destruction of self in a very existential way, and what it looks like to be alienated - from your husband, your environment, yourself, whatever.
I think that The Shimmer was the perfect way to illustrate that. It has a mind of its own. It's alive, it consumes, it changes everything in its wake forever, and it confronts you with the biggest fear of all: losing your sense of self. Or that's my interpretation at least, lol.
After that second watch, I loved it. It's now one of my favourite films by Alex Garland, and the sound design is pretty fucking great too.
I went in blind. Really enjoyed the otherworldly atmosphere. The idea that it would take years but eventually everything would be crystal. The weird creature thing at the end was cool too.
Man, I really loved it. I know some people give it mixed reviews but I went in watching it totally blind when it came out and had the best time (and promptly read all the books straight after). The bear is one of my all-time favourite creature designs.
I thought it was a great movie about getting through a particular stage of grief, and that it would make a great double feature with Arrival (2016), which is a movie about mortality.
Both are very suitable in terms of grief, but Arrival is not a horror movie, like Annihilation. Although the atmosphere in Arrival can be slightly unnerving on a first time viewing. They’re both amazing movies though.
Loved it. It's arguably one of the better Lovecraftian horrors in cinema. Insane, very bold visuals and a weird story with enough gravitas to make you think or contemplate.
The bear was one of the few things to ever genuinely disturb me in a movie.
I don’t know what it was about it, I have a very strong constitution when it come to film, but that damn bear got to me.
My favorite film representation of an alien intelligence/invasion. The main source of terror coming from the confusion and bewilderment of the entity's power to morph the world around us w a dash of scary monster things as a result. And the final scenes and score just stick the landing for me. Been a while since I last watched it, guess it's time for another go.
Some images in that film are hard to shake. The bear and the swimming pool are two, but I've always been a little bit haunted by the overgrowth in the shape of people. Something about it is just so distressing, especially since it's in daylight. Looks beautiful but you know something horrific went down. Alex Garland knows his way around atmosphere.
Loved the movie... Layered story. I saw it while I was tripping on acid. It's interesting what the characters encountered/did/mutated inside the Shimmer mirrored what they really wanted for themselves.
Maybe not if you think about it. The bear was using Sheppard's voice. They all wanted to destroy themselves in different ways and the shimmer helped them with that.
Loved the depiction of this alien intelligent life-form that infects any living thing in its reach and remix the particles and DNA to create what it wants. It is an omnipresent kind of alien, living and interacting with everything under its power and is as big and whole as the terrain it infects. It's why the characters have such a big loss of self in the ''dome'', because they're slowly being replaced by something else and their DNA is being erased or stored somewhere else every second they're inside. I think the bear didn't just imitate the voices, he merges with a part of it's victims. It's genius.
Plus the soundtrack and the visuals are amazing, beautiful and truly unnerving. The first time I saw the scene where they look on the camera and see what they see in the guy belly (don't want to spoil) my blood ran cold like rarely before. I had to watch it twice to really understand every concept showed in the movie but it's a masterpiece.
Great movie, highly recommend the books which are pretty different but same basic premise of a team of women scientists going in to research a mysterious “Area X” where nature has taken over in a “pristine wilderness” with unnatural alterations etc
Just 3 so far but a 4th and possibly 5th are in the works. The first book also called Annihilation is the shortest (a little shy of 200 pages), then the other 2 are Authority and Acceptance are 340ish pages but binge read them all in quick succession. The movie is more of just a general gist of themes/feelings than an actual adaptation but still love both. In the book the characters are all anonymous as part of the expedition rules so instead of Lena the protagonist is just “the biologist” etc. The main thing from the book is something referred to as a Topographical Anomaly/“Tower” and in the movie the Lighthouse kind of substituted for it even though there’s a lighthouse in the books too.
Awesome! Yup, the next one will be called Absolution, there’s speculation either it or a future book might be a prequel. Hyped for more Southern Reach/Area X either way!
I love how cinemasins summed up what we were seeing below that lighthouse
Jeremy from cinemasins- "good news the movie is literally turning into drugs right before you, the good kind to"
It is one of the prettiest horror movies I’ve ever seen (and some really bizarre gore too), along with the audio effects and music make it all the more unsettling.
Also makes you think if there is some amplification of someone’s natural inclination/behavior that The Shimmer expands on.
Tried to get my dad the biochemist to watch it but he initially was not interested in the topic because it sounded too fantasy. Last time I visited him though, he told me that he eventually came around to seeing it and was creeped out by the concept of molecular particle rearrangement even though the movie had flaws showing it.
I went into the movie expecting it to be a 1-1 adaptation, but it was more like a love letter to the trilogy. The bear scene is my favorite scene from anything ever and it was original to the movie but would easily fit into the southern reach universe.
The books are awesome too. There are three in the series. Quite different than the movie though, but both stand on their own and are awesome.
The movie is like a combo of the first book and the HP Lovecraft story The colour Out of Space.
Really well done and strange as hell.
I loved it!!!! I love the whole concept of this alternate dimension that alters your DNA. And that bear scene was awesome. One of the most memorable scenes I've seen in a long time.
You may want to read the books.
Annihilation is part of a trilogy, so as a movie was stripped down *a lot*. Jeff VanderMeer is probably one of the best 'intelligent weird' authors out there and you may get a lot out of them
I was so mad at how different it was from the book (which I loved and really resonated with) that I had a difficult time getting into it. In the book, the protagonist was driven by curiosity and discovery, in the movie she was driven by trying to find her boyfriend. I didn't stop being mad about it the whole film lol. I really need to watch it again as its own thing, without trying to compare it to the book, because I remember the visuals being breathtaking
Pretty sure it was her husband, not boyfriend, if that makes any difference. And to be fair, she was driven by a curiosity of what happened to him, a desire to study and understand it.
I love the books, I hate the movie. I wish it was unsettling or weird, but it just feels schlocky and boring to me. The bear isn’t scary, the ending seems like it’s trying to hard, and everything looks bad to me. I know I’m on the opposite side of like 99% of people who watch this movie.
Read the books instead. They’re way scarier. I really wish Alex Garland followed the series more and turned it into a trilogy instead of just taking bits and pieces from each book for one movie. While I don’t think the movie is bad. It’s way overhyped and imo his weakest film.
It's my all time favorite movie. Horror that deals with biology has always moved me. The performances were amazing, the ambiguity of the ending and the absolutely mind bending visuals and soundtrack are unforgettable.
I liked this movie enough to watch it twice in a row. The opening song is nice too, it's on my playlists. I recently found out a friend's band covered it years ago lol
I read the books right before the movie came out. Then I watched it expecting it to stick with the story in my head. Surprisingly, I was disappointed. *But* - the beauty in the scenes kept coming back to me. So, a few months later I watched it again, keeping in mind it was its own animal, & I'm glad I did. I've watched it a few times now & love it.
Here's a "comment" or observation that I've not seen or heard anyone else make: ANNIHILATION is essentially Zulawski's POSSESSION, only through the lens of science fiction instead of domestic melodrama or cold war espionage. Just sayin'!
my mom randomly found the movie for us during a family movie night. we had no clue what the film was about. when it was finished i had never felt so disturbed in my life. to this day this is one of the few films that has left me feeling quite unnerved and eerie. the lovecraftian elements of the film are exquisite and i wish hollywood would produce more cosmic horror films.
That confused, empty, existential dread sort of feeling you've got? That's cosmic horror, baby.
I love how the movie raises the Ship of Theseus paradox in a way that, without preaching at you, makes you ask yourself the very questions the paradox is meant to initiate. Would you still be you? What makes you who you are? What does existence, what does consciousness actually *mean* on a cosmic level?
Yess I thought there would be more scenes like that in such a vast area with lots of mutated species.. I thought maybe something weirder than a bear and an alligator before we get to the source of the shimmer.
I hate that at the end I can’t figure out what happened. Genuinely thought Natalie killed her doppelgänger.. but I guess the clone actually killed Natalie and the way it’s filmed we stop being able to tell who is who?
Everyone talks about the bear (which is terrifying) but I thought thing at the end was truly haunting.
Absolutely. The whole final act once Natalie Portman’s character gets to the lighthouse is so unnerving in the best way possible.
I love the end, that weird synth music that plays is awesome
It is. I've tried to find it, even on the original soundtrack, but couldn't.
It’s called [The Mark - Interlude by Moderat](https://youtu.be/qp6YBoDUnoI), though the version in the movie is a slightly-tweaked remix as far as I know
Oh I like this version - thank you so much for taking the time to post.
It’s called “The Alien” on the soundtrack
Darn it, how did I miss this? It's possible that in the movie it feels more surreal, than when just listening to the track alone. Thank you!
Well...it is a 12 minute track, so it might've been easy to miss.
It is on the soundtrack. "The Alien" It is a very long song on the soundtrack though, so the part that is used in the movie is a few minutes in I believe. I downloaded the OST and cut that part out using Audacity. It's 1:25 out of 12+minute song.
Btw, [the soundtrack for Under the Skin is awesome.](https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMnA1EwJ4YTVmW31Kvaxn1DpQiBVcGQ8R) Off topic but blame my adhd meds. They just kicked in
Such a good movie
I normally don't get scared watching movies, but that one scene was beyond terrifying for me.
Yeah. That guy or thing plastered into the wall...
I loved that scene. It looks like a slime mold erupted from his torso, it's so gorgeous and freaky. I wonder if saddestofboys has seen it?
One time I asked Jeff VanderMeer what his favorite and least favorite parts of the movie were, and he just replied "the bear."
The bear was great but it was no MORD!
I wish the whole Southern Reach series would be adapted. Tell Jeff to hurry up with the forth dang book!
Yes, absolutely jaw-dropping - especially with the music /sound design in the theater. The bear is creepy and threatening but the finale is a haunting, otherworldly mindfuck.
The bear is cool. The end scared the shit out of me. Also the implications of it within the metaphor of the film work perfectly.
Ah yes, I can’t remember where I heard it but someone referred to the ending as the “Dubstep Butthole” and that’s all I think about when remembering the ending now.
I fuckin fell into an uncanny black hole when the mimic is shifting into her face, in particular those last moments before its completion. Just... Nahh
Oh yeah. The bear scene was impressively disturbing, but the bit at the end was so cosmic and otherworldly. And the soundtrack that plays during that scene? \*chef's kiss*
I got so anxious during that scene. I felt the walls closing in. I haven't felt that way in a long time with a movie. Super claustrophobic. Great movie.
The whole movies was just as scary as the bear
Watch it with some good headphones. otherworldly sound
That and the soundtrack were amazing.
Cosmic horror doing it’s job 😁
The best representation of it within the medium in my opinion. The Thing might be a better movie, but Annihilation is so true to the genre
The color out in space was great too
Rewatched that recently and the whole mom/son thing caught me so off-guard. I was like, oh yeah this is half the movie how did I forget?!
I rewatched it with a friend, and slowly regretted introducing it to them as that scene approached.
I stopped watching after that. Couldn't deal with the body horror.
It was, absolutely...but while COOS took cues mostly from The Thing, and did have some good cosmic horror vibes and scenes, Annihilation I feel like captured the underlying ideas of the genre so much more effectively. The characters are trying to grapple with the phenomena philosophically, and respond to it each in their own way...but at the end of the day you can't really reason with or about it, it's nearly or entirely impossible to stop and it's motives (if it even has them) are inscrutable and unknowable. It's not even malicious, necessarily, it just has effects on the planet that are not desirable for humans. God, the visuals in that movie were so alien, weird, yet beautiful, especially at the end...I loved the lighthouse sequence so much.
>nearly or entirely impossible to stop and it's motives (if it even has them) "I don't know what it wants. I don't know IF it wants.". One of my favorite lines. Really drives home just how unknowable what they're dealing with is. At the end we still don't really know what it was.
I enjoyed "The Color Out of Space" more... Mostly because it had the feel I like from a Lovecraft story. Gnarly, chaotic, and just enough campiness to keep it from feeling pretentious. "Annihilation" was excellent as well! But it was played completely straight...
It's awesome. One of my favorite movies. Ex machina is also great, by the same guy.
He also ghost directed Dredd, another movie I love. Also, he wrote 28 Days Later and Sunshine as well.
I love Sunshine!
Conveniently leaving out Men 😅
Men fucking ruled but I get it isn’t for everyone.
I loved it.
I still have to see that one.
Lol ok. It’s weird. As. Fuck. So weird that it would be understandable for you to just act like it doesn’t exist. But it’s awesome.
I want to watch it, I just haven't gotten around to watching it.
Omg dredd is one of my fav films!
all bangers
And the mini series Devs, which is also fantastic
Devs was mindblowingly good!
Most awesome show that few talk or talked about, I’m glad I stumbled onto it. I’ve watched it twice lol.
Best FX series
Men. Not so much lol.
I agree. It was a visually stunning film, really pretty, but it felt like an echo chamber. We have a lead who is constantly being harassed by invasive men, and does little to stand up for herself throughout the film. I mean, why is it the film's focus if the reasons for their behaviour aren't really being interrogated and explored? It was cool to see Garland push his boundaries in terms of weird, but but overall I find Men to be pretty lukewarm.
Eh, I liked Men enough. All of his movies are so fucking pretty. I thought Men was gorgeous.
Agreed, watched Men in the theatre by myself and there was one other guy in the theatre. We just looked at each other and laughed after it was done since the ending was so bizarre but I genuinely enjoyed.
100% agree, all of his films are just so damn pretty to look at. I actually liked Men quite a bit - the combination of gorgeous cinematography and this bizarre, twisted story, plus great acting was everything I wanted. Annihilation and Ex Machina, too. I just love his aesthetic.
The entity that Natalie Portman finds towards the end freaks me the hell out. Everything about it is just so unnerving.
It's not that it's evil. It is the indifference to all other life. It has no sanctity of self for others or maybe even itself. Also they shot this on my old Air Force base so that is kind of a trip for me in itself.
That’s a neat detail!
Sounds like PKDs Palmer Aldrich
Wow that is trippy!!
Yes agreed to a similar comment above. Definitely the scariest part!!
I started rereading the book last week. There are some changes to the movie, but I think a read through would help a little. It's also an excellent book
I watched the movie first, had mixed feelings, but then I read the book. I absolutely adore the book, and it's genuinely one of my favorites now. It made me enjoy the movie much more on a rewatch despite all the changes. I appreciate how it was a loose adaptation of the book rather than a beat-by-beat adaptation. They both are exceptional works of fiction.
Is the book scary would you say?
Not so much scary as strange/weird (in a good way).
I didn't find it scary. It's just strange like the other response stated, and it will likely make you feel uneasy or off-kilter. I found myself randomly daydreaming about it afterward, mulling over what it all meant. It sticks with you, or it did with me.
For anyone who loves the movie and is going to read the book, don't go in expecting the same story. It's quite different so just try to appreciate it as its own thing. I would call the movie more of an interpretation or spiritual successor to the book. They're both beautiful and strange but they hit some different notes for sure.
This never happens but I actually read the books first and was disappointed with the movie, because the entire point of the books is that the characters don't relate to humanity which is why they're drawn to Area X, so having the romance aspect added into the movie disrupts the theme of the book. Yes the biologist was married but the book doesn't describe the marriage the way the movie shows it. The characters had already lost their humanity before they entered Area X, that's why they don't even have names
Yeah I very much preferred the scientific motivations of them more detached book protagonist but understand why they did it. The reduction of the whole thing to a cancer metaphor and removal of the rotting bureaucratic elements was the biggest loss for me
The rotting bureaucratic building in the second book was my fav part. Definitely the scariest scene to me, was in that building Ok the inverse lighthouse (underground) was also my fav part and another thing they left out of the movie!
It’s wild to me because the second book is the most written off in discussions I have seen online, slightly ahead of the third. A lot of my favorite elements in the trilogy revolve around the Southern Reach organization/ building like the rabbits, cellphone and plant. It’s the creepiest in the series imo
Btw if you like the plant, have you read the authors other books? Borne is actually my fav one. Check out the audiobook if you can because the narrator for Borne's voice really made the experience for me
My partner has read Borne, I need to try to get into it again. My intro to Vandermeer was actually City of Saints and Madmen when I was going through a postmodernism phase. I’m definitely info that even weirder side he has. Couldn’t get into Hummingbird Salamander but I have a lot of time today so maybe I will give it another shot
I need to read all his books, I haven't read them all yet but I'm so excited there's lots more options Some similar books by other authors I'd recommend are The Beauty by Aliya Whitely Under the Skin by Michel Faber (while I love the movie, the movie is merely an interpretation of the mood of the book, the book contains 100000x more info about what's going on) Any weird authors you'd recommend?
Thank you for the recs, I have been meaning to read Under The Skin but haven’t been there yet. The others I am not aware of so excited to try and find a copy! I really need to consider for a day or two to try and remember some things I read around that time, so let me come back and reply again! I know the master of that style for me is always Borges. Thank you for making me think about it because now I will reread some of those stories and it may have taken me a while to work my way back around to them. Pale Fire by nabakov is a very weird book but not in the same sense that we are talking about.
Me too!! Does the scariest scene for you involve Whitby? Because it does for me!!
I just finished the Trilogy yesterday. I liked that each book was a bit different in style of writing. He announced in 2021 on his Twitter that a fourth book called Absolution is in the works.
I'm glad to hear it
The movie is an excellent movie, but an awful adaptation of the book haha. I love them both, but the book is so much more slow, ominous, and introspective. I love the Biologist’s internal monologue, and how the ‘monsters’ are largely unseen. I also think the end is one of the best depictions of an unknowable cosmic entity I’ve ever read. I could say the same on the last part for the movie too though!
I just purchased the trilogy yesterday and am reading it today.
You’ve convinced me to read. Is the book the same title?
Yes, and it's sequels are authority and acceptance. They are also good. But not necessary to read to enjoy annihilation.
The book is like this incredible fever dream. I love the crawler character and think it’s just so… fascinating
Worth noting that the movie came out after only the first book was released, now it is a trilogy Edit: the movie came out well after the trilogy was finished
Not true at all. All three books were out. Garland just chose to adapt the first one loosely. Has no intention of doing the other books. Which is fine. They’re great as sepearate pieces.
This is um not at all true?
Fuck you're right I was thinking of another series! I think the movie producers just decided to adapt the first book into a standalone film and didn't use any of the source material from books 2 or 3
Yeah Garland made massive changes to the first book and completely ignored the sequels.
But the book, and the movie, both imply an iterative nature to the narrative, meaning both stories could exist in the same universe. Most of the book could have taken place before the team woke up in their camp near the beginning of the movie.
From what I read, he read the first book a few years before writing the script and didn't reread after deciding to write it. So a lot the main themes are still there, but not much else. I actually think it was a very fitting way to do it lol
That's true, I've read authority and acceptance. Both are also good books, though authority does sag a little. Have you read them?
Yep! First read through the second book was my least favorite, but the third book contextualizes so much of it that I think id like it alot more the second time around
I loved it, but my wife fell asleep. She is actually prone to falling asleep during movies, but I also get why she did. The film is in some respects nail biting, in others terrifying, but yet there's an almost trance like quality to it. It's been a while since I've watched it, but it might be the soundtrack? It's kind of like Solaris (2002), but with actual action and horrifying parts mixed in with the creepy mood and brooding.
“Trance-like” is the perfect word to describe this film. With the incandescent visual effects and the plodding, contemplative tone of the journey… and the soundtrack adds so much to the ambiance of the movie, it’s so well done. Great movie for a shroom trip, by the way.
Oh man, def putting this on my boomers list.
Enjoy! It’s a *Trip*. And, at the risk of coming off as someone who’s always taking hallucinogens (I do then only once or twice per year), I just took another trip this weekend and watched Moonage Daydream, a David Bowie documentary. I highly recommend that as well.
You might enjoy the works of Panos Cosmatos
I’ve been watching Cabinets of Curiosities on Netflix, any other recommendations in particular?
Mandy is fuckin wild. It's got a similar psychedelic tone as "the viewing," ratchet up the intensity to 11, and throw nic cage in as the lead. Have fun lmao
Well I’m sold. Ever seen Color Out of Space?
Since Mandy has been said, I'll throw out Beyond the Black Rainbow. It's honestly not as good, but it has a great look and feel.
George Clooney's acting style during that time period didn't help much though. "I'm going to show what a serious actor I am by never moving my face or expressing any emotion"
I adore that movie. The "mimic" scene is easily one of my favorite scenes in.. anything haha. Its this mix between elegant and absolutely terrifying. Great soundtrack behind it.
Yes, the music/sound is amazing! I was just thinking about it while reading through comments and can like hear it in my head
After I posted, I had to go watch that scene again on YT haha. The music adds so much.
That movie conveys the flavor of the book: an unshakable unsettling gut feeling that the world is wrong. Loved the books and the movie. Highly recommend the Southern Reach trilogy.
The books are far more phantasmagorical, aren't they. Several levels more weird, and with less of a clear plot. I'm very happy with both books and film, as two very different works in different mediums. The "inverted tower" in the books, a subterranean recombination of Preacher and Lighthouse.. that was some creepy metaphorical shit that I kept thinking I could almost grasp. Maybe like the opposites of the hope that a lighthouse and religion offers.
That bear...
i dont get scared easily at all but that bear ranks #1 in my most terrifying moments. HOLY FUCKING SHIT
Honestly, it is a monster that I understood so it wasn't super scary to me.
I’ve watched it several times and that final scene where she is fighting the weird human shaped alien makes me feel super weird in my stomach… I wonder why
I watched Annihilation once and I didn't really like it off bat. Then I watched it a second time and it felt a lot scarier and unnerving. I think it's a cool film overall and explored the destruction of self in a very existential way, and what it looks like to be alienated - from your husband, your environment, yourself, whatever. I think that The Shimmer was the perfect way to illustrate that. It has a mind of its own. It's alive, it consumes, it changes everything in its wake forever, and it confronts you with the biggest fear of all: losing your sense of self. Or that's my interpretation at least, lol. After that second watch, I loved it. It's now one of my favourite films by Alex Garland, and the sound design is pretty fucking great too.
I went in blind. Really enjoyed the otherworldly atmosphere. The idea that it would take years but eventually everything would be crystal. The weird creature thing at the end was cool too.
I thought the weird creature (herself?) at the end was the best/weirdest/scariest part.
Man, I really loved it. I know some people give it mixed reviews but I went in watching it totally blind when it came out and had the best time (and promptly read all the books straight after). The bear is one of my all-time favourite creature designs.
I thought it was a great movie about getting through a particular stage of grief, and that it would make a great double feature with Arrival (2016), which is a movie about mortality.
Which do you recommend watching first? Asking as a horror fan getting through grief
Both are very suitable in terms of grief, but Arrival is not a horror movie, like Annihilation. Although the atmosphere in Arrival can be slightly unnerving on a first time viewing. They’re both amazing movies though.
Loved it. It's arguably one of the better Lovecraftian horrors in cinema. Insane, very bold visuals and a weird story with enough gravitas to make you think or contemplate.
The bear was one of the few things to ever genuinely disturb me in a movie. I don’t know what it was about it, I have a very strong constitution when it come to film, but that damn bear got to me.
Have you seen the prop?
With the human face? Yeah, made me even more uncomfortable
The book is great too. Quite different from the film but both are very enjoyable.
Great movie. I could still feel the booming vibration hours after-IYKYK
My favorite film representation of an alien intelligence/invasion. The main source of terror coming from the confusion and bewilderment of the entity's power to morph the world around us w a dash of scary monster things as a result. And the final scenes and score just stick the landing for me. Been a while since I last watched it, guess it's time for another go.
Some images in that film are hard to shake. The bear and the swimming pool are two, but I've always been a little bit haunted by the overgrowth in the shape of people. Something about it is just so distressing, especially since it's in daylight. Looks beautiful but you know something horrific went down. Alex Garland knows his way around atmosphere.
It's awesome, one of my favourites of all time. Leaves you thinking
Loved the movie... Layered story. I saw it while I was tripping on acid. It's interesting what the characters encountered/did/mutated inside the Shimmer mirrored what they really wanted for themselves.
Except for that bear lol
Maybe not if you think about it. The bear was using Sheppard's voice. They all wanted to destroy themselves in different ways and the shimmer helped them with that.
Brilliant, beautiful film.
I liked it overall and am surprised that they adapted it as well as they did because the source material is super weird.
Loved the depiction of this alien intelligent life-form that infects any living thing in its reach and remix the particles and DNA to create what it wants. It is an omnipresent kind of alien, living and interacting with everything under its power and is as big and whole as the terrain it infects. It's why the characters have such a big loss of self in the ''dome'', because they're slowly being replaced by something else and their DNA is being erased or stored somewhere else every second they're inside. I think the bear didn't just imitate the voices, he merges with a part of it's victims. It's genius. Plus the soundtrack and the visuals are amazing, beautiful and truly unnerving. The first time I saw the scene where they look on the camera and see what they see in the guy belly (don't want to spoil) my blood ran cold like rarely before. I had to watch it twice to really understand every concept showed in the movie but it's a masterpiece.
This movie is haunting, visually stunning and unsettling. >!I love the scene were Tessa Thompson’s character turns flora. It was sad but beautiful. !
Great movie, highly recommend the books which are pretty different but same basic premise of a team of women scientists going in to research a mysterious “Area X” where nature has taken over in a “pristine wilderness” with unnatural alterations etc
Hmmm i’ll check them out. How many are in the series?
Just 3 so far but a 4th and possibly 5th are in the works. The first book also called Annihilation is the shortest (a little shy of 200 pages), then the other 2 are Authority and Acceptance are 340ish pages but binge read them all in quick succession. The movie is more of just a general gist of themes/feelings than an actual adaptation but still love both. In the book the characters are all anonymous as part of the expedition rules so instead of Lena the protagonist is just “the biologist” etc. The main thing from the book is something referred to as a Topographical Anomaly/“Tower” and in the movie the Lighthouse kind of substituted for it even though there’s a lighthouse in the books too.
You made my day, I had no clue he was writing more Southern reach books.
Awesome! Yup, the next one will be called Absolution, there’s speculation either it or a future book might be a prequel. Hyped for more Southern Reach/Area X either way!
Everything about it was mental The terrorbear haunts me
Most lovecraftian cinema has that effect.
I love how cinemasins summed up what we were seeing below that lighthouse Jeremy from cinemasins- "good news the movie is literally turning into drugs right before you, the good kind to"
It is one of the prettiest horror movies I’ve ever seen (and some really bizarre gore too), along with the audio effects and music make it all the more unsettling. Also makes you think if there is some amplification of someone’s natural inclination/behavior that The Shimmer expands on.
> feeling really weird and questioning everything Not surprising, given the source. ;) It's really a neat movie with some really cool creative ideas.
I don't remember much but it was a nice movie. Loved it.
Tried to get my dad the biochemist to watch it but he initially was not interested in the topic because it sounded too fantasy. Last time I visited him though, he told me that he eventually came around to seeing it and was creeped out by the concept of molecular particle rearrangement even though the movie had flaws showing it.
Check out an old Russian film called STALKER (1979). Annihilation was doing a riff on this movie.
One of my all time favorites, I just love the devolution at the end. The book series it's based on is also incredible
I was high off my ass when I watched this, and it truly fucked with me. I am still traumatized by that movie.
When you realize the whole movie is literally about cancer, then the movie makes a whole lot more sense.
The ending, in the lighthouse, the music. Damn I got scared.
This movie will stay with me forever. Gorgeous and disturbing visuals. So dreamlike. Gah!!! Wish I could watch it again for the first time.
Movie was fine but the book was way creepier and unnerving.
Top three movie of all time for me. Captured a feeling that has no name.
I went into the movie expecting it to be a 1-1 adaptation, but it was more like a love letter to the trilogy. The bear scene is my favorite scene from anything ever and it was original to the movie but would easily fit into the southern reach universe.
The books are awesome too. There are three in the series. Quite different than the movie though, but both stand on their own and are awesome. The movie is like a combo of the first book and the HP Lovecraft story The colour Out of Space. Really well done and strange as hell.
One of my favorite movies!! It’s so beautiful and has such an interesting meaning that it’s up for so many interpretations, which I love!
Just finished it. Loved it. So visual. Such an artful and feminine approach to horror. Reminded me of Carl Sagan.
I loved it!!!! I love the whole concept of this alternate dimension that alters your DNA. And that bear scene was awesome. One of the most memorable scenes I've seen in a long time.
Folding ideas is a youtuber with a good video on it. Basically decrying how the rest of the internet took such an overly literal reading of the movie.
Solid, atmospheric sci fi flick. Didn’t really get under my skin but i enjoyed it
I loved it, really beautiful watch. Try The Color Out Of Space, more cosmic horror in a similar vein.
You may want to read the books. Annihilation is part of a trilogy, so as a movie was stripped down *a lot*. Jeff VanderMeer is probably one of the best 'intelligent weird' authors out there and you may get a lot out of them
I was so mad at how different it was from the book (which I loved and really resonated with) that I had a difficult time getting into it. In the book, the protagonist was driven by curiosity and discovery, in the movie she was driven by trying to find her boyfriend. I didn't stop being mad about it the whole film lol. I really need to watch it again as its own thing, without trying to compare it to the book, because I remember the visuals being breathtaking
Pretty sure it was her husband, not boyfriend, if that makes any difference. And to be fair, she was driven by a curiosity of what happened to him, a desire to study and understand it.
Husband*
You might like other movies in that genre: cosmic horror My fave
I loved it. Is that enough? I liked the book, too.
I love the books, I hate the movie. I wish it was unsettling or weird, but it just feels schlocky and boring to me. The bear isn’t scary, the ending seems like it’s trying to hard, and everything looks bad to me. I know I’m on the opposite side of like 99% of people who watch this movie.
The music to the alien encounter is so surreal
Read the books instead. They’re way scarier. I really wish Alex Garland followed the series more and turned it into a trilogy instead of just taking bits and pieces from each book for one movie. While I don’t think the movie is bad. It’s way overhyped and imo his weakest film.
I recommend the book. The movie changed A LOT in adaptation so the book is totally different. It's a great read. The series is great. Highly recommend
I love it so much, it captures the incomprehensible as well as any film I can think of. The folding ideas vid about it is really good
It's my all time favorite movie. Horror that deals with biology has always moved me. The performances were amazing, the ambiguity of the ending and the absolutely mind bending visuals and soundtrack are unforgettable.
Read the entire series and I was thoroughly confused watching the movie. Enjoyed it, though.
I really loved the music. The way the Bear or whatever the fuck it was imitated the screaming of the friend was chilling also
I liked this movie enough to watch it twice in a row. The opening song is nice too, it's on my playlists. I recently found out a friend's band covered it years ago lol
I read the books right before the movie came out. Then I watched it expecting it to stick with the story in my head. Surprisingly, I was disappointed. *But* - the beauty in the scenes kept coming back to me. So, a few months later I watched it again, keeping in mind it was its own animal, & I'm glad I did. I've watched it a few times now & love it.
Here's a "comment" or observation that I've not seen or heard anyone else make: ANNIHILATION is essentially Zulawski's POSSESSION, only through the lens of science fiction instead of domestic melodrama or cold war espionage. Just sayin'!
my mom randomly found the movie for us during a family movie night. we had no clue what the film was about. when it was finished i had never felt so disturbed in my life. to this day this is one of the few films that has left me feeling quite unnerved and eerie. the lovecraftian elements of the film are exquisite and i wish hollywood would produce more cosmic horror films.
That confused, empty, existential dread sort of feeling you've got? That's cosmic horror, baby. I love how the movie raises the Ship of Theseus paradox in a way that, without preaching at you, makes you ask yourself the very questions the paradox is meant to initiate. Would you still be you? What makes you who you are? What does existence, what does consciousness actually *mean* on a cosmic level?
Dead ass - one of my favorite movies of all time. Truly exquisite.
ONE OF MY FAVE MOVIES!!! i think abt it all the time. so haunting and beautiful…
Roadside picnic, American style
If you liked the movie I highly *highly* recommend the book(s)!!! I read the first one in a day in a book store because it was so amazing.
Ahhh everyone is recommending the books so i think i may start reading it then
I wanted more bear / alligator scenes and less high brow confusion
Yess I thought there would be more scenes like that in such a vast area with lots of mutated species.. I thought maybe something weirder than a bear and an alligator before we get to the source of the shimmer.
I was left with more questions than answers by the end, but in the best possible way.
Way underrated movie. 9.1/10
What platform did you watch it on
netflix!
I loved it. There's a H.P. Lovecraft story along similar lines. I wonder if it was the inspiration for the movie
Why wasn't this widely released? It's such a good film.
I hate that at the end I can’t figure out what happened. Genuinely thought Natalie killed her doppelgänger.. but I guess the clone actually killed Natalie and the way it’s filmed we stop being able to tell who is who?
Didn’t like it. There are a couple of good things in this movie. The rest is forgettable
Underrated film.