Annihilation

Alex Garland's phantasm of a film, Annihilation, contains familiar expedition tropes, a brutal and agonizing attack sequence and stunning visuals that, unfortunately, spangle more than enlighten. We follow a team of female scientists and warriors into a piece of coastal U.S. territory that is being genetically transformed by an extraterrestrial presence called The Shimmer. Others have ventured in but not one has returned. The picture poses an interesting paradox -- the benign alien threat. Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Oscar Isaac star.