Some thoughts after watching Annihilation (spoiler)

Monroe 2022-03-23 09:01:24

I don't know if anyone has played a game on steam called "darkwood", and at 3/4 of the movie - about the time when the group is ready to go and encounter a bear at the camp - it's hard in my mind Not associating the film with the game - and when I ended up in the lighthouse afterwards I almost certainly thought the art and modeling were very close to a lot of what's in this game - chronologically, it's a very Intense and coincidental point of view.

The flashback starts with Lena (hmm) being asked in a closed room by someone wearing a heavy suit of hazmat suits what she knows about whether it means that this X-area still exists after the lighthouse burns down and many ruins are annihilated. , yet to be further processed? Obviously, the military in the film has not obtained enough information about the X area and needs to dig out what the only two survivors know. "Whether there is no return" is still a problem, so there is no way to obtain the video stored in the X area. Interrogation, as the biggest narrative skeleton, appears very few times in the film, which seems very deliberate to me, because in the process of enjoying the film, I will feel that I don't know what to do when I return to the interrogation room, and of course it is not just "playing". so serious. I don't know about the X area, and it is still expanding. The military needs to control the situation, so organize a team, a death squad, and go in for reconnaissance. The most important purposes are two, one is to collect information in a very broad sense, and the other is to enter the lighthouse. , where did the existence of the lighthouse come from? Under the premise of "there is no return" and there is no communication between the inside and outside? Obviously, the military has noticed that the X area will have an impact on people's mental state. This is from Kane (hmmm ) feedback, based on the previous team's experience, set up a psychologist as the leader for the Lena team, hoping to stabilize the team's mental state? Well, it is practical and reasonable, but it is obviously far from enough. In fact, the team has The person who is watching is the flesh around Lena, right? Lena, who has battlefield experience, plays the role of the mainstay in the film. Well (and I actually thought of the lost lover again), the knowledge of biogenetics has repeatedly revealed the secrets of the X zone, mutation, assimilation, cell aberration, late-night microscope probes (many instruments make it hard to imagine how many teams were before this. Once entered, or left over from before the mutation) reveals the mutation of the physical condition of each member - the flowing muscles, the things that wriggled in the stomach of the former team member when the belly was cut, the corpses that split like spores and the plants on the wounds, and the With the help of physicists, the source of the "human tree" was verified (and explained the interference of internal and external communication). It feels that the film has a self-requirement for logical rigor, and another feeling is that for some reason (I guess The biggest reason is the length, after all, the original trilogy) seems a bit rushed. It can be heard that the bear who attacked Cass imitated the victim's voice to fool the dark female team doctor, but only seriously injured her in the fight but failed to kill , instead "relative" Quietly enter the hut to test the other three prey? Of course, as the only person who carried a lethal weapon, she couldn't die at once. If she died, the "secret room" caused by her mental breakdown would be the place where the group was completely destroyed, which made sense. The foreshadowing of the dark female team doctor here is very sufficient, which is one of the reasons why I came to the above conclusion - her plot is relatively full and reasonable, which sets off the panic in other parts - the leader Ventress suffers from Cancer was only mentioned later. The psychological trauma of the rest of the team members "lost an important part". When they first entered the deep forest, Cass and Lena explained them one by one in the conversation on the boat. So, going a little further, why did you ask questions about the collective amnesia of a group of people who just entered the X area for a few days, but didn't explain it? The physicist, who looks like Rihanna, was attacked by a big white crocodile in the swamp camp and dragged into the water in the house (pulled in), and only left a tooth mark on the right shoulder from the back. What kind of attack made her What about retreating? It's also her, how can you say that if you change into a tree, she will become a tree, and she will disappear when you turn a corner. Do you know what Lena explained in response to the interrogation? Of course, the most important thing is that the captain soared in the lighthouse's cave and turned into a ball of light. It was a beautiful and attractive clip. I once thought that this would also be the ending of the heroine, but what about her corresponding clone? , A drop of blood oozing from the wound at the corner of the heroine's eye was sucked into her ball of light and started to fission. After that, it disappeared out of thin air, no longer exists? Kane is confirmed to have been copied. It can also be confirmed at the end of the film that he and the heroine and his wife are both copied people, but they are also copied. Why is the heroine's real body an alien body without human skin color? Of course This is very subtle. In the lighthouse, the real Lena took the grenade from the replica and began to change her skin color to become a normal person, while the replica played by the beautiful Natalie here is more like a normal human than the real one. Ah, the replicator is ignorant, and the state of chaos in the beginning does not match his husband's model? Another solution to the Mobius ring totem on Lena's left hand? I have a lot of doubts. Playing it back from memory, I imagined an antique porcelain with delicate carvings, which implied logic, and proved itself everywhere, but failed to prove its authenticity. The whole film has been expressing and implying the anomaly in Zone X and its symptoms, but it gives me the feeling that in some places that should be self-consistent, it fails to reasonably match the number. The "Secret Room" is the place where the group is completely destroyed, which makes sense. The foreshadowing of the dark female team doctor here is very sufficient, which is one of the reasons why I came to the above conclusion - her plot is relatively full and reasonable, which sets off the panic in other parts - the leader Ventress suffers from Cancer was only mentioned later. The psychological trauma of the rest of the team members "lost an important part". When they first entered the deep forest, Cass and Lena explained them one by one in the conversation on the boat. So, going a little further, why did you ask questions about the collective amnesia of a group of people who just entered the X area for a few days, but didn't explain it? The physicist, who looks like Rihanna, was attacked by a big white crocodile in the swamp camp and dragged into the water in the house (pulled in), and only left a tooth mark on the right shoulder from the back. What kind of attack made her What about retreating? It's also her, how can you say that if you change into a tree, she will become a tree, and she will disappear when you turn a corner. Do you know what Lena explained in response to the interrogation? Of course, the most important thing is that the captain soared in the lighthouse's cave and turned into a ball of light. It was a beautiful and attractive clip. I once thought that this would also be the ending of the heroine, but what about her corresponding clone? , A drop of blood oozing from the wound at the corner of the heroine's eye was sucked into her ball of light and started to fission. After that, it disappeared out of thin air, no longer exists? Kane is confirmed to have been copied. It can also be confirmed at the end of the film that he and the heroine and his wife are both copied people, but they are also copied. Why is the heroine's real body an alien body without human skin color? Of course This is very subtle. In the lighthouse, the real Lena took the grenade from the replica and began to change her skin color to become a normal person, while the replica played by the beautiful Natalie here is more like a normal human than the real one. Ah, the replicator is ignorant, and the state of chaos in the beginning does not match his husband's model? Another solution to the Mobius ring totem on Lena's left hand? I have a lot of doubts. Playing it back from memory, I imagined an antique porcelain with delicate carvings, which implied logic, and proved itself everywhere, but failed to prove its authenticity. The whole film has been expressing and implying the anomaly in Zone X and its symptoms, but it gives me the feeling that in some places that should be self-consistent, it fails to reasonably match the number. The "Secret Room" is the place where the group is completely destroyed, which makes sense. The foreshadowing of the dark female team doctor here is very sufficient, which is one of the reasons why I came to the above conclusion - her plot is relatively full and reasonable, which sets off the panic in other parts - the leader Ventress suffers from Cancer was only mentioned later. The psychological trauma of the rest of the team members "lost an important part". When they first entered the deep forest, Cass and Lena explained them one by one in the conversation on the boat. So, going a little further, why did you ask questions about the collective amnesia of a group of people who just entered the X area for a few days, but didn't explain it? The physicist, who looks like Rihanna, was attacked by a big white crocodile in the swamp camp and dragged into the water in the house (pulled in), and only left a tooth mark on the right shoulder from the back. What kind of attack made her What about retreating? It's also her, how can you say that if you change into a tree, she will become a tree, and she will disappear when you turn a corner. Do you know what Lena explained in response to the interrogation? Of course, the most important thing is that the captain soared in the lighthouse's cave and turned into a ball of light. It was a beautiful and attractive clip. I once thought that this would also be the ending of the heroine, but what about her corresponding clone? , A drop of blood oozing from the wound at the corner of the heroine's eye was sucked into her ball of light and started to fission. After that, it disappeared out of thin air, no longer exists? Kane is confirmed to have been copied. It can also be confirmed at the end of the film that he and the heroine and his wife are both copied people, but they are also copied. Why is the heroine's real body an alien body without human skin color? Of course This is very subtle. In the lighthouse, the real Lena took the grenade from the replica and began to change her skin color to become a normal person, while the replica played by the beautiful Natalie here is more like a normal human than the real one. Ah, the replicator is ignorant, and the state of chaos in the beginning does not match his husband's model? Another solution to the Mobius ring totem on Lena's left hand? I have a lot of doubts. Playing it back from memory, I imagined an antique porcelain with delicate carvings, which implied logic, and proved itself everywhere, but failed to prove its authenticity. The whole film has been expressing and implying the anomaly in Zone X and its symptoms, but it gives me the feeling that in some places that should be self-consistent, it fails to reasonably match the number. Ventress's cancer was mentioned later. The psychological trauma of the rest of the team members "lost an important part". When they first entered the deep forest, Cass and Lena explained the conversations on the boat one by one. So, going a little further, why did you ask questions about the collective amnesia of a group of people who just entered the X area for a few days, but didn't explain it? The physicist, who looks like Rihanna, was attacked by a big white crocodile in the swamp camp and dragged into the water in the house (pulled in), and only left a tooth mark on the right shoulder from the back. What kind of attack made her What about retreating? It's also her, how can you say that if you change into a tree, she will become a tree, and she will disappear when you turn a corner. Do you know what Lena explained in response to the interrogation? Of course, the most important thing is that the captain soared in the lighthouse's cave and turned into a ball of light. It was a beautiful and attractive clip. I once thought that this would also be the ending of the heroine, but what about her corresponding clone? , A drop of blood oozing from the wound at the corner of the heroine's eye was sucked into her ball of light and started to fission. After that, it disappeared out of thin air, no longer exists? Kane is confirmed to have been copied. It can also be confirmed at the end of the film that he and the heroine and his wife are both copied people, but they are also copied. Why is the heroine's real body an alien body without human skin color? Of course This is very subtle. In the lighthouse, the real Lena took the grenade from the replica and began to change her skin color to become a normal person, while the replica played by the beautiful Natalie here is more like a normal human than the real one. Ah, the replicator is ignorant, and the state of chaos in the beginning does not match his husband's model? Another solution to the Mobius ring totem on Lena's left hand? I have a lot of doubts. Playing it back from memory, I imagined an antique porcelain with delicate carvings, which implied logic, and proved itself everywhere, but failed to prove its authenticity. The whole film has been expressing and implying the anomaly in Zone X and its symptoms, but it gives me the feeling that in some places that should be self-consistent, it fails to reasonably match the number. Ventress's cancer was mentioned later. The psychological trauma of the rest of the team members "lost an important part". When they first entered the deep forest, Cass and Lena explained the conversations on the boat one by one. So, going a little further, why did you ask questions about the collective amnesia of a group of people who just entered the X area for a few days, but didn't explain it? The physicist, who looks like Rihanna, was attacked by a big white crocodile in the swamp camp and dragged into the water in the house (pulled in), and only left a tooth mark on the right shoulder from the back. What kind of attack made her What about retreating? It's also her, how can you say that if you change into a tree, she will become a tree, and she will disappear when you turn a corner. Do you know what Lena explained in response to the interrogation? Of course, the most important thing is that the captain soared in the lighthouse's cave and turned into a ball of light. It was a beautiful and attractive clip. I once thought that this would also be the ending of the heroine, but what about her corresponding clone? , A drop of blood oozing from the wound at the corner of the heroine's eye was sucked into her ball of light and started to fission. After that, it disappeared out of thin air, no longer exists? Kane is confirmed to have been copied. It can also be confirmed at the end of the film that he and the heroine and his wife are both copied people, but they are also copied. Why is the heroine's real body an alien body without human skin color? Of course This is very subtle. In the lighthouse, the real Lena took the grenade from the replica and began to change her skin color to become a normal person, while the replica played by the beautiful Natalie here is more like a normal human than the real one. Ah, the replicator is ignorant, and the state of chaos in the beginning does not match his husband's model? Another solution to the Mobius ring totem on Lena's left hand? I have a lot of doubts. Playing it back from memory, I imagined an antique porcelain with delicate carvings, which implied logic, and proved itself everywhere, but failed to prove its authenticity. The whole film has been expressing and implying the anomaly in Zone X and its symptoms, but it gives me the feeling that in some places that should be self-consistent, it fails to reasonably match the number. ? Of course, the most important thing is that the captain soared in the lighthouse's cave and turned into a ball of light. It was a beautiful and attractive clip. I once thought that this would also be the ending of the heroine, but what about her corresponding clone? , A drop of blood oozing from the wound at the corner of the heroine's eye was sucked into her ball of light and started to fission. After that, it disappeared out of thin air, no longer exists? Kane is confirmed to have been copied. It can also be confirmed at the end of the film that he and the heroine and his wife are both copied people, but they are also copied. Why is the heroine's real body an alien body without human skin color? Of course This is very subtle. In the lighthouse, the real Lena took the grenade from the replica and began to change her skin color to become a normal person, while the replica played by the beautiful Natalie here is more like a normal human than the real one. Ah, the replicator is ignorant, and the state of chaos in the beginning does not match his husband's model? Another solution to the Mobius ring totem on Lena's left hand? I have a lot of doubts. Playing it back from memory, I imagined an antique porcelain with delicate carvings, which implied logic, and proved itself everywhere, but failed to prove its authenticity. The whole film has been expressing and implying the anomaly in Zone X and its symptoms, but it gives me the feeling that in some places that should be self-consistent, it fails to reasonably match the number. ? Of course, the most important thing is that the captain soared in the lighthouse's cave and turned into a ball of light. It was a beautiful and attractive clip. I once thought that this would also be the ending of the heroine, but what about her corresponding clone? , A drop of blood oozing from the wound at the corner of the heroine's eye was sucked into her ball of light and started to fission. After that, it disappeared out of thin air, no longer exists? Kane is confirmed to have been copied. It can also be confirmed at the end of the film that he and the heroine and his wife are both copied people, but they are also copied. Why is the heroine's real body an alien body without human skin color? Of course This is very subtle. In the lighthouse, the real Lena took the grenade from the replica and began to change her skin color to become a normal person, while the replica played by the beautiful Natalie here is more like a normal human than the real one. Ah, the replicator is ignorant, and the state of chaos in the beginning does not match his husband's model? Another solution to the Mobius ring totem on Lena's left hand? I have a lot of doubts. Playing it back from memory, I imagined an antique porcelain with delicate carvings, which implied logic, and proved itself everywhere, but failed to prove its authenticity. The whole film has been expressing and implying the anomaly in Zone X and its symptoms, but it gives me the feeling that in some places that should be self-consistent, it fails to reasonably match the number.

Aside from these perhaps irrelevant details, "annihilation" is full of artistry and beauty. For example, the protagonist couple said in the bed talk that cancer cells can be cultivated almost indefinitely, and in a certain sense, they can achieve immortality. It is very tempting, is it tempting? The team leader of Ventress, who was suffering from cancer, went to the cave with such a belief to verify. Did she get the answer she wanted like that? Similarly, almost everyone is freed from their own meaning, the non-aggressive physicist becomes a tree, loses a child, and the sympathetic, empathetic Cass uses the bear as a medium to become her killer. Some of them continued to exist (well, they were killed), and it was easy for hostile emotions to erupt. The team doctors who seemed to be strong but were actually vulnerable no longer had to worry about their individual being out of control. From another point of view, annihilation has been repeatedly reflected in the blending, mixing, smoothing the boundaries of species, the rules of construction, constantly emphasizing the overlapping and intersecting of identities, which is full of transformative symbols even in Lena's dreams. ——Having an affair with a colleague in his own bed, the husband, as a "third party", also knows. The layered state makes the individuals more closely connected. In the end, Lena and the replica are tightly attached to the wall, almost making people think they are about to merge. There is a dramatic tension. This is the logic that makes me feel annihilated. (Well, even the whole thread is sticky and inexplicable, I feel a little hypnotized to write this).
In such a closed ecological environment, everything is running according to its preset laws, and people who go deep into it are subtly changed to cater to this law in these changes. Are these the director's affirmation of the natural environment and natural laws? ? Is it a pessimistic assumption that the accepted natural laws will be transformed and assimilated when they encounter external rules? All I can think of is an attempt to rethink and define the basic principles of existence. In any case, there are very new and innovative elements in Annihilation. Although the concept is not subversive, and the storytelling is quite cliché, it gives me a strange feeling of stickiness.

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Extended Reading
  • Foster 2022-03-15 09:01:02

    Who and what is "I"? How to delimit the boundary of "me"? From where, at what moment, and where does it end? What is more or less, "I" will not be me? The "I" is changing all the time. The so-called "find the true self" and "stick to the true self" is a false proposition, and the "true self" never exists. The film slots are dense, the supporting characters are scribbled, and the motivation and behavior lack a bit of logic, only to force the plot to advance, and the whole action is a bit self-destructive.

  • Adalberto 2021-10-20 19:02:31

    From the futuristic minimalism in Mechanic Ji to the apocalyptic/wasteland aesthetics of this film, you can see the director’s superb personal taste. The plot is controlled and the narrative is slow to come. The novel itself carries a heavy adaptation to simplify the plot clues, but open discussion and different endings, audiences can get different answers

Annihilation quotes

  • Dr Ventress: We have many theories, few facts.

  • Lena: You said nothing comes back. But something has...