How Annihilation‘s Team Created That Insanely Gruesome Bear
Alex Garland makes sci-fi films for people who love the genre’s malleability, the way it can contain other genres within itself like a Russian nesting doll. He wrote the twitchy, truly terrifying zombie thriller 28 Days Later, the brilliant, pared down artificial intelligence “romance” Ex Machina, the gorgeous, heartbreaking Arrival, and last year’s trippy, terrifying Annihilation. Each one was singular. Each one was a sci-fi film that relished in the genre’s plasticity.
Watch Writer/Director Alex Garland Narrate a Chilling Scene in his Sci-Fi Mind Melter Annihilation
Boasting a very solid 86% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, writer/director Alex Garland’s ambitious, scary-beautiful Annihilation has been hailed as the rare treat; a science fiction film that is at once bold, singular and uncompromising. Based on Jeff VanderMeer’s wild sci-fi novel of the same name, the first in his “Southern Reach Trilogy,” Garland went full gonzo for his film, delivering mind-melting visuals and legitimate scares, grounded by human emotion and Garland’s cinematic obsession with humanity in general (see his excellent Ex Machina for further proof).
Early Reactions to Alex Garland’s Annihilation Tout Astonishing new Sci-Fi Classic
Ever since we heard Ex Machina writer/director was tackling an adaptation of Jeff VanderMeer’s wild sci-fi novel “Annihilation,” we were enthused. Garland has real vision, and his love and respect for sci-fi, a genre with limitless possibilities, were on full display in Ex Machina. That film took one of the genre’s most durable tropes—the blurry line between the real and the synthetic, the human and the artificially intelligent—and invested it with wit,
New Annihilation Trailer Teases Alex Garland’s Sci-Fi Mind-Blower
After writer/director Alex Garland’s sensational Ex Machina jolted the film world, and reminded viewers why sci-fi is such glorious genre, it was a waiting game to see what he’d do next. When word spread that he was adapting Jeff VanderMeer’s terrifying, incredible eco-horror novel “Annihilation,” it seemed like a match made in a very, very scary version of heaven. And sure enough, the first trailer confirmed that Garland had found the perfect source material.
Watch the Trailer for Ex Machina Writer/Director Alex Gardland’s Epic new Film Annihilation
We’ve been waiting for Alex Garland’s new film since the second we walked out of the theater after seeing Ex Machina in 2014, his fantastic take on artificial intelligence, and one of the smartest sci-fi films to come about in a long time. Joining Arrival and Blade Runner 2049 director Dennis Villeneuve as an auteur who uses sci-fi to explore big, complicated issues and themes (no genre is more malleable than sci-fi),
What we Know About Ex Machina Director Alex Garland’s Next Film Annihlation
Alex Garland projects are some of my favorites. I actually bought the Blu-ray of his 2015 film Ex Machina for fear that the film would rotate out of the streaming services I use, thereby hindering my ability to obsessively rewatch the film every few months or so. And there is no better time to be an Alex Garland fan than now, as it was just announced that his next film, Annihilation,
