Movie Pick: Annihilation

Alex Garland’s follow-up to Ex Machina was never going to be a workplace comedy, but it’s still heartening to see him respond to the earlier film’s success by doubling down on the brainy science fiction. Natalie Portman here leads an all-female team into the Shimmer — one of those forbidden zones sci-fi loves so much — that looks like somebody spilled a bottle of fairy liquid into a river, then sailed an oil tanker through it. What Portman and her team find in there is best left unsaid (let’s just stress that things don’t go well for her squad) before a closing movement leaves horror behind for more cerebral territory. As you’ve probably guessed, this is no shoot-em-up, and makes demands on its audience – but if beautifully shot, occasionally gross, and languorously paced explorations of a stylised and surrealistic world are your thing, this is the film for you.Times & trailer