Annihilation is a 2018 Lovecraftian science fiction horror thriller film written and directed by Alex Garland, loosely based on the 2014 novel of the same name by Jeff VanderMeer.

It stars Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson, Tuva Novotny, and Oscar Isaac.

The story follows a group of scientists who enter the Shimmer, a mysterious quarantined zone of mutating plants and animals caused by an alien presence.

The Shimmer emerged three years prior from a meteor that landed on a lighthouse in the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge in Florida, and it is gradually expanding and increasing its boundaries.

Within an abandoned village, Josie studies plants that have taken on a humanoid form, and theorizes that the Shimmer functions as a prism, distorting and transforming everything that falls within its boundaries—including the expedition members' own DNA.

Anya, overcome with paranoia after watching her fingerprints change, disarms the other members and ties them to chairs, and accuses Lena of murdering Cassie.

Paramount Pictures and Scott Rudin acquired the film rights to Annihilation, the then-unpublished first novel in Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach Trilogy, on March 26, 2013.

"[10] Garland said his adaptation is "a memory of the book", rather than book-referenced screenwriting, with the intention of capturing the "dreamlike nature" and tone[11][12][13] of his experience reading VanderMeer's novel.

[23] Once Portman had agreed to play the biologist, the next cast member added was Gina Rodriguez, who entered talks with the studio in November 2015.

[29] Portman also responded to the controversy, saying that she did not know her character had a specific ethnicity until whitewashing concerns were raised, and that Garland had intentionally not spoken to VanderMeer about the other two Southern Reach novels because he wanted to focus on adapting Annihilation.

[4] On December 7, 2017, it was announced that, due to the clashes between Rudin and Ellison, and the shift in Paramount's leadership, a deal had been struck allowing Netflix to distribute the film internationally.

According to this deal, Paramount would handle the American, Canadian, and Chinese release, while Netflix would begin streaming the film in other territories 17 days later.

[1] While it did not amass much in terms of box office, the film found new life in home release, with some publications arguing it could become a cult classic.

[45][46] In the United States, Annihilation was released alongside Game Night and Every Day, and was projected to gross $10–12 million from 2,012 theaters during its opening weekend.

[48] On film review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 88% based on 331 reviews, and an average score of 7.7/10; the site's "critics consensus" reads: "Annihilation backs up its sci-fi visual wonders and visceral genre thrills with an impressively ambitious—and surprisingly strange—exploration of challenging themes that should leave audiences pondering long after the end credits roll.

[3] Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film four out of four stars, praising it for taking risks, and saying: "Kudos to Garland and the cast, but bravo to Scott Rudin as well.

"[52] The Economist described the film as "tightrope-walking the fine line between open-ended, mind-expanding mystery and lethargic, pretentious twaddle", but praised its final half hour.

[54] Critics have referred to the film as a sci-fi horror thriller,[55][56][57] and some have said that this combination defies traditional genres and makes it part of the New Weird.