Annihilation

More moody and cerebral sci-fi from Ex Machina writer-director Alex Garland, this time starring Natalie Portman as Lena, a scientist and former soldier searching for answers after the mysterious disappearance and even more mysterious return of her husband Kane (Oscar Isaac). Government goons intercept the duo on their way to the emergency room and whisk them away to the outskirts of “The Shimmer,” a top-secret mutation zone of unknown origin that has been steadily expanding across the earth for the last two years. The laws of physics don’t seem to apply in The Shimmer, and Kane was the only solider to ever make it out alive, but that doesn’t stop Lena from joining a team of female scientists led by Jennifer Jason Leigh who seek to find the source. Once again, Garland offers a provocative and reflective take on the apocalypse, with better-than-blockbuster special effects realized on a relatively low budget.