I don’t know what’s going on but recently in film and television there has been an influx of female leads. And I’m not complaining. There have been reboots of movies where there were originally a full male cast like Ghostbusters and the Ocean’s 11 franchise. And who can forget the strong female roles in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
More recently, Natalie Portman along with other talented actresses starred in a sci-fi, thriller film entitled Annihilation. Which is based on a novel of the same name. The story follows five women who enter “the shimmer” trying to find the source of this other-worldly thing that seems to be consuming the earth little by little. Oh, and did i mention that these five women work in the field of science. Lena played by Natalie is a biologist who was also in the military for a few years. There is also an anthropologist, physicist, paramedic, and psychologist. The ladies who portrayed them were Tuva Novotny, Tessa Thompson, Gina Rodriguez, and Jennifer Jason Leigh respectively.
Prior to this group entering the shimmer, they had sent in groups of men who were in the military. But none of them returned. Dr. Ventress played by Jennifer wanted to take a different approach to finding the source.
Throughout the film, the women encounter challenges. Not only physical but mental. Whatever is in the shimmer is starting to mess with the way they think so they try their best not to crack. Some are more successful than others.
You will also see how they use their different science expertise to try to find answers. And their physical skills to fight off mutated creatures. In the end, this group was more successful than the ones that came before them. Yes, they still couldn’t explain fully what the shimmer was and what it wanted but they were able to destroy it.
Aside from the movie itself, I was also pleasantly surprised by the performance of the actresses. Yes, I have seen them in previous films before but I could feel the tension, stress, and confusion their characters were going through. Needless to stay, my eyes were glued to the screen, except during the too gory scenes.
So, if you’re looking for a sci-fi, thriller, adventure movie to watch this weekend, I highly suggest Annihilation, which you can catch on Netflix now. If you do get a chance to, let us know what you thought of the film in the comments section.
Art by Yayie Motos
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