It’s been two years since Alex Garland gave us Ex-Machina, and now he’s back with our first look at the trailer for Annihilation. The sci-fi thriller is based on a trilogy of books called Southern Reach by Jeff Vanmeer, but Garland has confirmed this film stands on its own. The film stars Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson, and reunites Garland with Ex-Machina star Oscar Isaac.
Portman plays the anthropologist who leads a female team to a mysterious alien section of planet Earth. Area X is a place many have gone to explore, but one which no one has ever come back from. We get some idea of the stunning cinematography by Rob Hardy in the teaser clip. It’s a surreal world with some horror as Portman sets out to find her husband (Isaac) and the creature who caused this environmental disaster.
In an exclusive interview with Entertainment Weekly, talking about the weirdness and beauty of the clip, Garland says, “That’s what we were shooting for. The beauty part of it was quite important. Even when it’s grim, and something dark is happening, there’s quite an overt beauty, and we took pains to make sure that happened.”
Paramount Pictures will release the film on February 23, 2018.