Alex Garland (EX MACHINA) helms this adaptation of Jeff VanderMeer’s first novel in his Southern Reach trilogy, with mixed results. Visually stunning and at times genuinely suspenseful though plotting-wise dragged out and often incoherent, ANNIHILATION is a promising attempt at crafting original sci-fi but ultimately suffers from unnecessary ambiguity, making it more a bore than something memorable. Biologist and former soldier Lena (Natalie Portman) is shocked when her missing husband (Oscar Isaac) comes home near death from a top-secret mission into The Shimmer, a mysterious quarantine zone no one has ever returned from. Now, Lena and her elite team must enter a beautiful, deadly world of mutated landscapes and creatures, to discover how to stop the growing phenomenon that threatens all life on Earth. Paramount’s Blu-ray release contains a Dolby Atmos track and a three-part documentary featurette.
