Annihilation

Finally caught this 2018 body-snatching sci-fi from Gen X dystopia wiz Alex Garland. The simple plot isn’t wildly original and could just as easily have been an old Roger Corman movie. But this is all about style, all about flourish. Filmmakers take their time, establish characters, and establish MOOD. And man, oh, man can these folks create a mood. All the filmmaking/film authoring techniques are required: movement, light, sound, music. All intended, it seems, to make alien assimilation appear to be beautiful. Oh! And also terrifying. The cast of mostly A-list stars is top-notch. It’s risky to make the kids sit still through some of this as it creeps along. But the climax is scary and the conclusion is a fun riff on an old sci-fi trope.