Tag: horror

‘Annihilation’

Directed by Alex Garland

Science fiction horror

“Some questions will ruin you if you’re denied the answer long enough.” – Jeff VanderMeer, Annihilation

Loosely based on a 2014 VanderMeer novel of the same title, Annihilation is a 2018 sci-fi horror film. This thought-provoking adaptation explores betrayal, grief, and depression. The film follows the story of Lena, played by Natalie Portman, an Army veteran and biology professor who returns as the sole survivor of an exploration into the ‘Shimmer’.

The women-only group of explorers consisting of Lena, along with a government psychologist, a physicist, a geomorphologist, and a paramedic ventures into the ‘Shimmer’ – a mysterious zone of mutating plants and animals caused by an alien presence. This group of explorers is not the first of its kind. An earlier group of explorers including Lena’s husband Kane, embarked on a similar expedition, from which Kane returned as the lone survivor after a year of absence, unable to explain the details of the exploration, where he was, or how he came back.

Securing an understanding of the nature of the ‘Shimmer’ is urgent. Emerging three years prior from a meteorite landing in a lighthouse, the boundaries of the anomalous ‘Shimmer’ have been gradually spreading and may eventually encompass everything. Starring (inter alia) Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson, and Oscar Isaac, this thrilling science fiction uses the extraterrestrial and unknown to explore themes like depression and the human propensity for self-destruction.

Although it does not stand apart in its overall presentation, the film makes a commendable effort to traverse compelling universal themes and offers insightful commentary on the human condition.

– Lele M

‘Us’

Directed by Jordan Peele

Horror

“Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I will bring on them a disaster they cannot escape. Although they cry out to me, I will not listen to them.” – Jeremiah 11:11

Jordan Peele has done it again in this captivating 2019 American thriller. Us follows the story of Adelaide, played by Lupita Nyong’o, who first encounters a doppelganger of herself in a room of mirrors in a funhouse after wandering off on her own at a beach carnival.

Years later, a grown up Addy goes on vacation with her husband Gabriel and their two children. On vacation, the family ends up at the beach where the young Addy once wandered off from her parents. An already apprehensive Addy’s nerves are shot when her son, Jason, wanders off on his own. Although Jason returns safely, the family is visited by terror that night when their psychotic doppelgangers break into their holiday home.

Featuring contemporary hip-hop music over menacing action scenes, the direction of Us is easily one of Peele’s best offerings. The acting by the cast, which includes Winston Duke, Elisabeth Moss, and Tim Heidecker is another reason this film is brilliant. Jordan Peele’s unique genius keeps the viewer on the edge of her seat as the story unfolds – not through guts, gore and jump scares but through the subtilty of a riveting plot.

Us is a must see horror of a caliber rarely found in contemporary film-making.

– Lele M