In 2017, Mother was the most strange and controversial movie event, It is inconceivable that the year 2018 would also pass without a film that depicts the event as the strangest movie ever, and this is what the science fiction movie Annihilation did after its release, as it is considered a film that challenged the limits of imagination and reached a region that has been implemented The lexicon in describing it because of the strange topics it discusses. So if you think that you have seen many strange, mysterious and unfamiliar films, you are about to watch another movie that will leave you wandering into a storm of theories and ideas.
The events of the movie Annihilation revolve around a secret organization called Southern Reach that organizes scientific expeditions to an area called Area X, where the latter is considered an uninhabited place and an abandoned part that no longer applies to the laws of nature, where a team of four women will be sent; A biologist, anthropologist, a psychiatrist and a specialist in surveying lands in order to investigate what this place is, and they consider Mission No. 12 that goes to this area X, other previous missions some of its members committed suicide, there are those who have been exposed to dangerous cancers, there are those who have been traumatized and others They disappeared and never came back.
In this analysis, we will try to explain a group of ambiguities about the film, for example: Where did that flash come from or what was called in the movie The Shimmer? Scene of bones scattered in front of the lighthouse? The sight of a bear making that strange human voice? The strange ending? What are the meanings behind the film and the theories it discusses? So spoilers will be very present.
First, what are the meanings behind the movie and what is the director trying to say?
Many moviegoers have gone on to put forward a set of different theories that make sense depending on each viewer's point of view. The first theory is that the movie is a metaphor for cancer! Flash, or the so-called Shimmer, is a cancer disease present on the planet Earth, which was caused by humans as a result of their reckless behavior. The phosphorous bomb that Ken used in that lighthouse at the end of the film represented chemotherapy or the so-called chemo that is used to treat cancer, while The film's heroine, "Lena" and her husband, "Kane", are cancer survivors, and that is what we saw at the end of the movie where they were the only ones who survived the flash of The Shimmer.
Also, this cancer theory was referred to in another form at the beginning of the film, where we saw how the film heroine explains to her students cancer cells and how they multiply ... because it is not reasonable for the director to introduce the topic of cancer at the beginning without any purpose or goal! Or, for example, why did the director choose the film's heroine to be a professor of biology and explain to her students cancer cells ?!
The second theory is that the movie is a metaphor for self-destruction! In other words, that flash is the grave of everyone whose behavior and behavior in life were wrong. We have every character in the movie hiding a secret you don't want others to know; Lina, the heroine of the movie, for example, was in an affair with her boyfriend from work, although she is married. The other characters are either addicted to alcohol and drugs or hide a secret that they regret. This self-destruction theory remains closely related to the theory of cancer, where we can say that cancer is a process of self-destruction of the human body and life, and this is exactly what flash does; It destroys anything that enters it, and it is in constant expansion as mentioned in the movie, as it is said that when he landed on Earth, he began to expand and devour the lands with the passage of time.
Even director Alex Garland, during his conversation with Talks at Google about the film, asked the interviewer about the inspiration that prompted him to complete this film, and he answered him with the phrase "self-destruction", where he added: Whatever anyone is successful in his life ; He has a comfortable job, he has a lot of money, his health is good, he has a wonderful family ... When you get to know him closely and get involved in some circumstances, you find that he suffers from cracks, and that the ideal that we used to see from afar is no longer perfect! And these fractures or fractured behaviors are the beginning of the self-destruction that may shatter us like a cancer.
The third theory, which appears to be the closest and least complex, as it also combines the two previous theories, which is that this flash is a technology or science belonging to aliens coming from outside the planet Earth, from somewhere in the universe. This is exactly what we saw at the beginning of the film, where there is a shot that clearly shows what looks like a meteor coming from space and heading towards the Earth, and it collides with that lighthouse and begins to expand, adjust and seize the planet.
This acquisition and modification consists in studying the nucleic acids present on Earth of all creatures such as plants, animals and humans, in order to create new organisms by creating genetic mutations on them. For example, as we have seen in the movie, a cross-breed was created between different animals, such as that crocodile that has shark teeth, or copies of humans were created with different modifications, such as a replica of the movie heroine (Lina) that we saw in the end, or like her husband that we saw in The beginning, which was a hybrid version of her original husband, was apparent through his strange behavior with her when he came to her home.
And this is exactly what a scientist described in the film when she said that the shimmer is like a prism that reflects light, but it also reflects the DNA of all the organisms that live inside it, and thus we see creatures similar to the original but with genetic modifications. There is evidence beforehand at the beginning of the film that indicates this reflection that this flash made on the husband of the heroine of the film; The shot of the glass of water and when they were holding hands of each other, where we see clearly the idea of the prism that reflects light or reflects creatures to other genetically modified ones, where he copied her husband "Ken" and modified him genetically, and it came to her by a person who is different from her husband, whom she knows.
The sight of the bear and the strange human voice!
The movie is strange and terrifying at the same time, especially when it comes to the scene of the bear attacking the scientists in that house. I think this scene represents for me one of the best cinematic scenes ever filmed, as it combines a feeling of weirdness, horror, curiosity, astonishment, magnificence ... that strange sound that the hybrid bear was making came through merging the last words she said The first scientist that attacked her, so he combined it with his voice system and became using it to overthrow the others, strange and amazing!
The sight of skulls and bones, as for the lighthouse!
Another scene that makes the film a great mystery, but among the theories that can be explained by this scene is that these bones are a warning on the part of the members of the first expeditions that entered this flash before and did not return, as they tried through Those bones are to warn everyone who will come after not to enter that lighthouse, because the matter will not end with a happy ending!
End scene!
Also, among the film’s most mysterious and strange moments is the scene of the end and what happened with the heroine of the film "Lina" in that lighthouse, where the scientist "Winters" found inside, then that thing tried to clone her and create a black replica of her that tries to imitate her movements. And her behavior after a drop of her blood fell inside him, which, as we said earlier, needs the DNA of any creature in order to clone it. This scene can be explained as a metaphor for the psychological struggle that "Lina" lives after her marriage failed or after her betrayal of her husband, as we saw at the beginning of the film, and the solution in her view was to destroy this thing that is trying to clone her and remind her of her failed marriage by lighting The fire in that beacon, especially as we said that this flash always reverses and copies everyone who has committed any previous mistake in his life or the so-called self-destruction theory that we mentioned earlier.
Is the Lina that we saw last the original or the clone?
In fact, it is very difficult to answer this question because what we saw in the lighthouse is that it was the original Lina who survived and made it back, but when she was questioned by the white suit owner there were some hints to the contrary. For example, if you focus on the interrogation scene, you will see that when Lina carried the cup of water to drink, the director focused on the cup well and we saw the water as if it was in a state of change or what is called a state of boom. This is not entirely clear, but it is a direct indication from the director that something is out of place.
Add to that the last shot of the movie where we clearly see the eyes of our main character, "Lina", in a state of change in color, which indicates that she is not the original "Lina". As for her husband, it is clear that he is not her original husband, it is the latter who blew himself up with that phosphorous bomb while he was in the lighthouse. The thing that makes us conclude is that this flash that changes the genes of creatures and reproduces them, his intention is not to coexist on the planet, but to control and invade through its reliance on what is called biological warfare, which is stronger than conventional wars, where it is impossible to control it or know its source or how it spreads Etc ... There is no doubt that the title of the film clearly indicates this matter; Annihilation or "Annihilation"!
A final word about the movie!
Despite the multiplicity of these strange theories that try to explain the film, the latter was directed in a way that does not accept one logic, or in other words it is impossible to try to understand it and extract a single clear logical idea, as it was described by many of those who tried with it that it must be understood metaphorically philosophically! Also, the film can accept endless theories and it was not intended from the first to have only one explanation, remaining you and the film and the level that you reached with in your thoughts and your level of knowledge.
In any case, from my personal perspective of the film, I am very grateful that we got such films that words and ideas fail to contain, because it does not end only when the gin climbs up but continues beyond that to make you search and explore in order to understand, especially when we are in the midst A festival of expendable films fills the year with its repetitive and boring stories.