DISCLAIMER: Annihilation is rated R. You must be 17 years or older, or accompanied by a guardian in order to view it. The Talon does NOT encourage underage students to see this movie illegally or without a guardian.

“Annihilation” is a sci-fi horror movie filled to the brim with suspense and fear. Annihilation is about a group of five women with different backgrounds of knowledge, who go into a quarantine area called Area X.

Annihilation director Alex Garland perfectly combines both terror, intrigue, and mystery throughout the movie.

He always keeps the audience on their feet by constantly making developments and never leaving the viewer bored or wanting more.

First let’s start with the afterthoughts of both music and cinematography. Most people overlook these things because all they care about is if the actors were compelling and if the story is good.

While others look at the plot first, I first consider the music, the shots, and the way they compliment each other. Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury really brought it home with the soundtrack because the music always perfectly matched the mood of the scenes and in some cases even added to the scene.

Backing up the movie even more, were the clean and perfect shots of each scene that really made it so that each scene showed what it needed to, so that the viewer knew what was happening, who it was happening to, and why it was happening.

The gore of that scene and the movie overall was a really good balance of over the top and subtlety that doesn’t bother you but will freak you out when it needs to.

Next, we have the actors’ abilities themselves. The characters were portrayed very well and the actors really made you love the characters. You feel like you are with these people and experiencing these events with them for the first time.

They really propelled the story forward and really contributed to the development of the plot as a whole.

Finally, we have the plot and the twists throughout the movie. Overall the movie was very interesting and plausible while still being original. Every twist brings more intrigue about the world and how it’s happening while not being cliché.

The very ending twist feels a little lazy and done multiple times. The ending really killed it for me because it left so much to be desired because it built up so much and just leaves the viewer wanting more or little more explanation for it.

Overall, from the shots, soundtrack, and acting, the movie was fantastic and kept you interested and scared the entire time.