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Annihilation is Peak Cosmic Horror | Video Essay 

CriticalCoffee
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23 авг 2024

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Комментарии : 264   
@criticalcoffee
@criticalcoffee Месяц назад
Sorry for the long break in videos, I've been busy with real life stuff and playing Elden Ring, I'll try to get the next project out much faster 🤝
@kristianwichmann9996
@kristianwichmann9996 Месяц назад
One might say you took a ... coffee break!
@dmonvisigoth1651
@dmonvisigoth1651 Месяц назад
Those Windows Media Player visualisations were the shit, yo! I definite precursor to my later obsession with psychedelic chemical compounds.
@avaliien
@avaliien 24 дня назад
I knew there was Dark Souls II background music in there somewhere!
@CrazyCyberClon
@CrazyCyberClon 15 дней назад
Did I hear it right that you use the soundtrack from majula DS2 hometown in you vid, love that song
@greenknightable
@greenknightable Месяц назад
The author said that his concept for the shimmer was based on animals in nature using mimicry to camouflage. But then expanded it to an alien ecosystem.
@stars_who_knows9254
@stars_who_knows9254 Месяц назад
that's fascinating. i love how simple the original idea was and how creative the inspiration.
@jeffreywelch9360
@jeffreywelch9360 Месяц назад
​@@stars_who_knows9254 Its likely also based on "A Road Side Picnic" or "S.T.A.L.K.E.R."
@Docklead
@Docklead Месяц назад
@@jeffreywelch9360definitely borrows from The zone
@cbob213
@cbob213 Месяц назад
I always took the ending as she WAS the alien. But the alien copied her so well that SHE didn’t know she was the alien. If that makes sense.
@Soilfood365
@Soilfood365 Месяц назад
I sort of took it along similar lines, but more that everything we encounter becomes part of us, so that whether she is original or a copy is arbitrary; to my reading, she isn't the copy from the lighthouse, but her victory over it is hollow because she is not fundamentally different from it, and it wouldn't have known any differently if it had been the Lena to walk out.
@KingfisherMC
@KingfisherMC 28 дней назад
SPOILERS FOR THE BOOKS Thats almost exactly what happened. They only focused on the first (of 3) book for the film and squished some stuff together, as well as the ending of the film being an incredibly watered down version of what actually happens. But yeah. If you like the film you should 100% read the Southern Reach. Its like a mix of Stephan King and Clive Barker.
@litneyloxan
@litneyloxan 19 дней назад
@@KingfisherMCfor the sake of brevity, what ends up happening with her husband? is he completely gone and replaced with the alien copy? do they continue to coexist together? I really liked their plotline
@KingfisherMC
@KingfisherMC 18 дней назад
@@litneyloxan Obviously spoilers here It was a while ago since i read the books but iirc you never see or meet the real husband. Hes already gone through the shimmer and what came back out is basically what happens to her when she goes down the stairs. Its somewhat implied he could be a creature moving through some swampy area (not in the movie at all, replaced by the bear) that sounds human but is some mutated wild boar thing. Thats only hinted at in her thoughts though and its never actually confirmed. She never meets her husband again in human form in any case, hes already mutated by the time the story begins. Fun fact though, she does end up meeting herself... ;) now go read the books
@alinasow5081
@alinasow5081 Месяц назад
Regarding the "Ouroboros" Tattoo: I have the feeling that you forget is that Time and memories also get refracted in the shimmer. if Lenas literal house can get refracted and created inside of the shimmer, then there is no reason why the original tattoo can't get refracted through time to appear on someone else ...thats the point of the shimmer, I think. all that exists can and will be influenced and refracted on everything that exists. that's what makes it so extremely dangerous and beautiful at the same time.
@bannedmann4469
@bannedmann4469 Месяц назад
Warping Space Time? I don’t think it’s THAT powerful..
@PharadayCage
@PharadayCage Месяц назад
The Shimmer remixes and corrupts information.
@clownbaby420
@clownbaby420 Месяц назад
something like 40% of American women have that exact ouroboros tattoo
@alabamapilot244
@alabamapilot244 Месяц назад
@@PharadayCage THIS IS WHAT MOST PEOPLE MISS! Yes. It's "remixing" reality itself. It isn't limited to genetics, it's reading and rewriting patterns of information.
@PharadayCage
@PharadayCage Месяц назад
@@alabamapilot244 yeah, people forget that DNA is just a long list of instructions to make a life form. It’s all information.
@jhonadavid
@jhonadavid Месяц назад
i love jennifer jason leigh's delivery and portrayal of ventress - creepy, distant, curious
@lewiitoons4227
@lewiitoons4227 Месяц назад
this movie is one of the rare times where the adaptaion made me read the book as opposed to the other way around, but the southern reach trillogy went hard, the middle book is mostly a bridge and quite hard to get through but provides the much needed context to finish the third book. great stuff
@Christo_Trismegistus
@Christo_Trismegistus 23 дня назад
It's an amazing trilogy
@Ghostykitten
@Ghostykitten Месяц назад
Annihilation has always been one of my favorite movies. I've seen it multiple times and I always feel I find something new to it. Also for the body horror stuff I find it both fascinating but equally terrifying because to some level I've lived through some more real aspects of it last year. After I had a valve transplant (bovine valve) I had a stroke a few months after. Ironically my husband spotted the symptoms of the stroke after seeing the movie The Diving Bell and the Butterfly all about a guy who had a stroke and became paralyzed and trapped in his own body. Though I've since recovered due to getting treatment quickly, the feeling of being unable to control your own limbs is extremely terrifying. I can't really describe how frightening it all was realizing my own body was against me and feeling deeply changed emotionally. Such a great analysis of an amazing movie! I may need to give it another rewatch!
@criticalcoffee
@criticalcoffee Месяц назад
Whoa! I can see how that would be terrifying. It's honestly easy to forget how scary real life can be while analyzing fiction. I've been very lucky to never have experienced anything like that. Thank you for the kind words!
@Vjevjeben
@Vjevjeben Месяц назад
Great commentary! I had a stroke in february and you explained it perfectly how it feels both being unable to control certain parts of your body, but also losing trust in how your body is supposed to support you but cannot do so. I think what most people have in common is the idea that we're in control of ourselves and our circumstances, but stuff like this gives you a really terrifying lesson how little control we have(i.e. our health) And a movie like Annihilation goes crazy with the concept of rapidly experiencing a change in your body without you wanting it to happen. (which is kinda lovecraftian in itself) Its also nice to read you recovered from it! hope you stay healthy
@alexandertiberius1098
@alexandertiberius1098 Месяц назад
​@@criticalcoffeeAll of the ugliest, most terrifying monsters and devils humanity has ever created are still us putting an easy to look at mask on our fears. Being stuck in a room with a bear is somehow less scary to us than being in the dark and hearing a low, snorting growl.
@nikkik5595
@nikkik5595 27 дней назад
When I was little I experienced type of seizure that was different than a grand mal (can’t recall what kind it was). I couldn’t open my right hand, it could only form a fist, I couldn’t remember who my mom was, my speech was jumbled and incoherent. I felt like I was in a strange dream like state. Nothing made sense, and my own body felt foreign. The seizure lasted hours. I’m replying to your comment with this because I both relate to your experience and relate to the feeling of foreignness and change present in this film. The shimmer literally looked like the sky during my seizure. Feeling like your body is betraying your commands and even feeling like your body doesn’t know what a command is is… absolutely horrifying. I can’t believe this film managed to capture it.
@joshuamartinez5126
@joshuamartinez5126 Месяц назад
Annihilation reminds me a lot of Lovecrafts The Color Out of Space literally about a unknown alien life form that landed on a región on earth and started mutating the environment
@Davidsworldtravels
@Davidsworldtravels 25 дней назад
That’s exactly how I felt as well. The motivations of the alien is meaningless. It’s basically bringing madness and is beyond comprehension like any lovecraftian abomination.
@BelieveInUrself93
@BelieveInUrself93 Месяц назад
Annihilation is one of my all time favourite movies, and the books are among my favourites also. It's a real shame there were so many creative differences between Vandermeer and Garland, to the point that not that long ago Vandermeer did an entire livewatch to dump on the movie, that at least in my mind adapted the themes in a way that translated to the screen better than the original books would have. With that said, I cannot WAIT for the 4th volume coming out in October. But it's this video, more than the upcoming book itself, that's made me want to go back and rewatch and reread all of it all over again. Excellent work, subscribed.
@criticalcoffee
@criticalcoffee Месяц назад
Oh wow, I had no idea there was animosity between them. All the interviews I read didn't give this impression. The Google Talks interview with Garland for example has him admit that he did a very loose adaptation and that VanderMeer was cool with it. IIRC VanderMeer said something similar in an interview as well. Oh well, shame to hear this, I genuinely love both stories and story-tellers. I'll definitely read Absolution as soon as it comes out. Thank you for the kind words and the sub!
@Krikenemp18
@Krikenemp18 27 дней назад
20:57 This particular melody is so iconic that I've picked it out from random videos on multiple occasions. It perfectly captures the core horror of the story. Familiar yet strange, the timbre has echoes of a brass instrument, but heavily distorted almost beyond recognition, like it's merging with something else. The descending, ascending, descending notes is like a question. Hey, who are you? Repeated again and again until you don't know the answer anymore.
@Yora21
@Yora21 23 дня назад
I think preceding it by "We need to go one level deeper" is a direct reference to a Jacob Geller video.
@Hevvvyyy
@Hevvvyyy 18 дней назад
Distortion makes things sound awesome or kinda eerie and strange like in this movie, love it
@Soilfood365
@Soilfood365 Месяц назад
I will never get tired of people exploring the ideas of this film. I take the ending, of her asking the new Kane if he is Kane, and him saying he doesn't think so, and asking if she's Lena, to get only hesitation, to be less of an indication that she's not Lena, and more of posing the question as to what it means to be anyone at all; even without the refraction and reflection of herself and everything around her, at what point do your experiences leave you as an entirely different person to the one you started as - much as in Lord of the Rings, Frodo never settles back into the Shire; he's still Frodo, but with everything he has been through, "Frodo" means someone different now to who it meant at the beginning of the story. Another element which I think affects Lena's and (both) Kanes' senses of identity is the time distortion; Lena lost time, at least several days, as soon as she entered the shimmer, and so on reflection, the only way she knows that she is her is that she can remember being her; the Kane at the end knows almost explicitly that he is not the original, but on the other hand, he remembers being Kane, and the Kane who self-destructs presumably is as unclear as Lena as to whether he is the original, except by his memories, so no version can be entirely sure that they aren't the 'real' one, because the very idea of a true version becomes arbitrary.
@Kelzorr
@Kelzorr Месяц назад
This tatoo appearing on people who didn't originally have it reminds me a lot of how GPTs borrow from images they had consumed in training, when making it's own creations
@CherubMire
@CherubMire 28 дней назад
This is such a good essay. It isnt a summary with themes explained like so many other "video essays". This is a straight to the core analysis and gives insight that I didnt see while watching. Thank you for that.
@j.f.fisher5318
@j.f.fisher5318 Месяц назад
I think of it as The Color Out of Space meets Apocalypse Now.
@thebendu33
@thebendu33 Месяц назад
Yep, I had the color out of space feeling too.
@jeffreywelch9360
@jeffreywelch9360 Месяц назад
@@thebendu33 For me It's "A Road Side Picnic" or "S.T.A.L.K.E.R"
@Robodude_0528
@Robodude_0528 Месяц назад
And Uzumaki
@cierracraven8267
@cierracraven8267 28 дней назад
It was based off of a color out of space actually
@riccardozanoni2531
@riccardozanoni2531 22 дня назад
@@cierracraven8267 more like inspired by, but yes, i think the author is a big lovecraft fan iirc
@neomatrix6160
@neomatrix6160 Месяц назад
Thank you thank you thank you. This film (based on the books) seem often misunderstood and I think it was perfectly executed. It IS cosmic horror, like Solaris before it. Glad to see people dissecting it years later. Perception IS reality.
@FaunoAtelie
@FaunoAtelie 26 дней назад
It is absolutely not perfectly executed, but it is one hell of a good example of cosmic horror
@neomatrix6160
@neomatrix6160 26 дней назад
@@FaunoAtelie I respectfully disagree. It IS executed perfectly. I’m not referring comparatively to the novel/s. Just on its own, it’s perfect. The ambiguity of the extraterrestrials “intent” is perfectly executed. Is it to be feared, is it beautiful…does it matter? Is it a malevolent force, or simply a “virus” manipulating genes with benevolence? Is it reacting to our reactions, our emotions? Some met beautiful ends, some seemingly met terrifying ends. The ambiguity is what it was all about. People have a preconceived notion about what an alien invasion would look like. This film shatters those preconceptions and confounds the intellect. Like Solaris, in the end, the viewer is questioning was this person real, was that person real or are they clones? It doesn’t matter, perception IS reality. If you don’t know definitively whether you’re a clone, like in Solaris, does it even matter? If this life force spreads throughout the globe, who’s to say the world is any more “hostile” then it is in its current state? It will have reached its own homeostasis. Like Ex-Machina, which was also perfectly executed but panned by some silly people, it takes the viewer on a completely surrealistic ride, that leaves them exactly where the director intended. Perfectly. So, with due respect to your opinion, I disagree adamantly on this one. Maybe you just didn’t like it?
@ravendelacour1917
@ravendelacour1917 Месяц назад
Regarding the odd form of the movie alien, the fractal patterns used are likely a representation of what a higher dimensional being would look like from our lower dimensional perception. When it forms the humanoid avatar, this is not the entirety of the alien. It is an avatar of the alien created to interact with this world. Think of our world as a fish tank and the alien reaching a hand into it. To the fish, the hand is the complete alien creature from an unknown reality and the fish are completely unaware of the Lovecraftian to them being on the other side of the hand and would go mad if they could comprehend it.
@DruNature
@DruNature 28 дней назад
imo the most inspired moment of sci fi, and maybe movie history! I am in awe of that moment with the music blaring interrupting the silence that proceeded it, so alien from any natural instruments, truly great scene!
@amberlayton1328
@amberlayton1328 Месяц назад
The Annihilation book is one of my favourite books ever. I wish I could go back and read it again for the first time. If you haven’t read it please do. It goes much deeper on the angle of the changing environment, Vandermeer is excellent at capturing this pristine wilderness, that is both beautiful and terrifying. The cosmic elements go even harder than in the film, and really fuck with your head. It’s just excellent.
@ravendelacour1917
@ravendelacour1917 Месяц назад
Vandermeer is supposedly working on a fourth book.
@spiritualanarchist8162
@spiritualanarchist8162 Месяц назад
Did you read Roadside Picnic ? ( It's the novel Vandermeer took as inspiration )
@ravendelacour1917
@ravendelacour1917 Месяц назад
@@spiritualanarchist8162 No but I did see the Russian B&W film adaptation Stalker. And of course the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games.
@spiritualanarchist8162
@spiritualanarchist8162 Месяц назад
@@ravendelacour1917 There's supposed to be a series (US) based on it as well. Also called Roadside Picnic . But I've never found it anywhere.
@jackassplus
@jackassplus Месяц назад
The books gave me a deep melancholia, but I can't really lay my finger on why, exactly. Maybe just a slow but inexorable inevitability.
@silkshines00
@silkshines00 Месяц назад
Creation is inherently tied to the destruction of what came before. I think Lena in her final interview understands the shimmer from a perspective outside humanity. There was nothing horrible or wrong in mutation, no one is even really killed- if you remove the moral superiority of humanity in your head.
@T0mek87
@T0mek87 Месяц назад
Its an (also) an all female cast movie, which was never advertised as such, and its really awesome, and which almost any body saw :(
@ElectricRose9001
@ElectricRose9001 Месяц назад
There was also Flora to Flora mutation with the bush covered in different flowers together, and Flora to what I think is supposed to be Glass for the trees near the lighthouse, but I think that's the only man-made material refraction we see.. You could also say it was Person to Big Kaboom mutation that then turned to Person?? to Fungi mutation. 😅 Which isn't a plant! We share a common ancestor with Fungi from 1.1 billion years ago after it branched off from plants, so they are more like animals than plants! Also Lichen (said as like-en) is the combination of algae and a fungus, they are crazy cool~
@angelagiilis3627
@angelagiilis3627 Месяц назад
I would like to look at the idea of this being gendered horror as well- As a woman I have given birth - i have had a parasite living in me- taking over my body and changing it in ways I didn't agree to- I think women have a psychologically easier time with this idea than men because our bodies do this - and then in menopause our bodies change again in ways we can't control or consent to- When I read the books (I read all 3 before seeing the film) I found it interesting that the group of men seemed to have a much more traumatic time inside the shimmer compared to the women- I have not seen an exploration of this idea out there but I find it fascinating
@bellatrix8247
@bellatrix8247 18 дней назад
i just want to say i'm only 3 minutes in and already love the use of the SIGNALIS soundtrack. it's an excellent choice not just for the topic of cosmic horror but for the move/books themselves
@dmonvisigoth1651
@dmonvisigoth1651 Месяц назад
I didn't even notice the bit about the tattoo before. Nice & trippy.
@andieshantz8861
@andieshantz8861 Месяц назад
Clicked on the video and I stopped about a minute in, watch the movie, started watching your video again and realized that I had some reading to do later lol! I can’t wait to start this series of books!
@ellisdylpo
@ellisdylpo Месяц назад
The book series is literally one of the best things I have ever read. I was never a big reader but decided to try the first book after watching the movie and loving it and now I recommend it to everyone I meet. You were spot on regarding the levels of horror. The movies shocked me and made me think but the books turned my brain inside out and shook it.
@shanemackay493
@shanemackay493 Месяц назад
This movie opened my eyes to metaphorical storytelling in such a profound way. I saw another video on here explaining the ‘mechanics’ of the shimmer and it was the first time I had a strong reaction of “that’s not the point at all!” You did a great job examining the sci-fi & horror from both angles and tying it all together. I think the shimmer is all one big metaphor for grief and your analysis on the self destruction theme is a great parallel to that. The Shimmer [grief] is inhuman, otherworldly, immensely powerful, and unknown. People are afraid to go near it; people who go willingly don’t come back the same. It seduces and amplifies our self-destructive tendencies. Many people give into those tendencies and are lost to the shimmer - for some, it is the peace they want; for others, they fight it to the last. Some return, if they can embrace and accept their grief [their reflection in the shimmer] as a part of themselves. What a great film!
@lachlanwalker8008
@lachlanwalker8008 22 дня назад
Love the quiet inclusion of the DS2 majula theme in the background. Such a beautiful and melancholic piece of music
@theterminaldave
@theterminaldave Месяц назад
The "personified alien" wasn't doing anything, it was just a focused aspect of the shimmer. The entire shimmer is alien, it's an area where laws of nature, chemistry, and even physics interact differently, act according to a totally alien directive.
@TimeKeeperBris
@TimeKeeperBris Месяц назад
One of my favourite cosmic horror films! One suggestion/thought I had was the inclusion of the names of which audios are being used. I really found that so satisfying in your Sunshine video, I’ve heard one of those SIGNALIS songs in the back of videos for so long, not knowing what it was. Of course I could have done more legwork myself 😅.
@criticalcoffee
@criticalcoffee Месяц назад
Good point! I almost added them here as well, but the project timeline got a bit stuffed so it became really difficult. I'll try to do this in the future 👍
@lilscenechick1995
@lilscenechick1995 23 дня назад
As a fan of cosmic horror and sci-fi, I’m ecstatic to see this film getting the love and appreciation it deserves. I haven’t read the novels, but I plan to. The concept of the Shimmer is fascinating and horrifying. And the notion that the alien being’s mere *presence* is what caused all the mutations, and it might not understand itself (therefore it has no regard for the other beings or environments it encounters)…That’s pure cosmic horror.
@thiefx100
@thiefx100 22 дня назад
26:54 I like the idea that in the end neither of them are their true selves because it is masterfully horrific to imagine a scenario where her memory of who she was and where she came from had changed after she passed out. The entity had duped and juked her very consciousness in some disgusting trick to obtain some form of compliance from her. The same is more obvious in her husband. "I thought I was a man- I had a life- People called me Kane- And now I'm not so sure. If I wasn't Kane what was I- Was I you? Were you me? My flesh moves like liquid- my mind is- just cut loose- I can't bear- I can't bear- I can't bear it. You ever seen a phosphorous grenade go off? If you ever get out of here, you find Lena." Look me in my brown eye and tell me that Alien son of a bitch Annihilated itself this way. Even in cases of greatest tenacity, you are deceived and violently obliterated. Its use of these tenacious subjects is, I expect, its only means of spreading beyond the shimmer. It is a violation of life and an abomination. Its destruction is a number one priority by all capable of seeing its nature. Even if its nature is only seen through human eyes.
@CharlesVanNoland
@CharlesVanNoland Месяц назад
@5:23 "...molting: a long trail of skin like debris, husks, and sloughings." Just as an FYI, in this context it's not pronounced "slaowings", but "sluffings" (or, as I like to say, "sloffings"). As in, "the cast-off skin of a snake", "a mass of dead tissue separating from an ulcer", and "something that may be shed or cast off". The "slaow" pronunciation refers to bodies of water. So, that's the noun "slough". The verb variant of the word means the process of producing the noun in the same way that "run" can be a verb or a noun. "I went for a run", "I run". Sloughings, as mentioned in the book, is "sluffings", as it is referring to the sheddings of creatures - typically reptiles/snakes and whatnot. Just a little FYI for ya! Thanks for the video. I realize now that my two girls should probably see this film too, if only for its iridescence and trippiness. My older girl is a non-stop character/world visioneer, realizing her imagination on paper, in digital art, and Roblox constructions that are modeled in Blender and imported and hand-animated. I think that Annihilation might-could be some more inspiration (like House of Leaves has been). My youngest girl will probably just be thrilled by the visuals and action thriller happenings - even though she's a bit of a Kubrick, which came entirely out of left field for me as her father. She's bossy and has story-telling vision. I'd link her RU-vid but I got bit posting a link in a RU-vid comment once before and I don't make that mistake anymore. I guess you can just search for "I Got Your Hat Bro", her channel is named Charlotte - but with unicode characters around it that nobody can type to find her channel. She busted that little video out in less than an hour, bossed me around a bit to shoot it, after 4th of July celebs. I'm like wtf, kid, get on it and make something awesome if you can bust something like that out off the top of your head. Anyway, SLOFFINGZ!!!!!
@J_CtheEngineer
@J_CtheEngineer Месяц назад
The first time I read sections about the crawler and its writings, I couldn’t wrap my head around it, and had to reread it over and over again. Can’t recommend the book highly enough.
@saintbullart
@saintbullart Месяц назад
Awesome video. I finished reading this trilogy earlier and I was very pleased. I also watched the movie before and after doing so. While they are very different, there's still a lot to appreciate in both things on their own. Im surprised to find things I didn't notice before, like the tattoo being present in Lena's arm! I don't think I've seen anyone mention that in other video analysis. Thank you for putting this out there! It was a great watch.
@criticalcoffee
@criticalcoffee Месяц назад
Thank you for watching! (to be fair, the tattoo has been mentioned by many others as well, but seriously, thank you for the kind words)
@Dorian_sapiens
@Dorian_sapiens Месяц назад
I loved the film and book of Annihilation, but I didn't make it very far into Authority. It just wasn't holding my interest. In your opinion, as someone who finished the trilogy and was "very pleased", should I try again with more perseverance? Does it get better after the first few chapters?
@saintbullart
@saintbullart Месяц назад
@@Dorian_sapiens I definitely recommend it. It provides some interesting insight on events from Annhilation. It's quite a different point of view for sure, and it DOES take a bit to get into the pace of things. BUT its enjoyable in my opinion.
@Dorian_sapiens
@Dorian_sapiens Месяц назад
@@saintbullart All right, thanks! I'll give it another shot.
@Dorian_sapiens
@Dorian_sapiens Месяц назад
25:00 In my view, Sheppard fits into that reading as cleanly as anyone. When her daughter died, she gave up on her own life and thus self-destructed.
@banne8834
@banne8834 5 дней назад
When grief truly impacts you, bone shattering grief, it makes you into something else. You are not the same ever again. You are created new, something different and alien to what you were before the grief. After I lost several people in close succession and survived the trauma myself, I changed. My personality is different. My outlook is different. Nothing can be the same.
@OasisProducti0ns
@OasisProducti0ns Месяц назад
This was so well-written!!!!
@criticalcoffee
@criticalcoffee Месяц назад
Thank you!
@tomnorton4277
@tomnorton4277 24 дня назад
I remember Critical Drinker's review of this movie and he was yapping on about how the alien didn't make sense and there was no logic to it. And I'm surprised that he was overlooking the blatantly obvious. It's an ALIEN. It's not supposed to make sense. The fact that nobody can get a grasp on what it is, what it's doing, or what it wants is the whole point of it's existence.
@denizentm2909
@denizentm2909 19 дней назад
Quite typical of a reactionary conservative to reject even the suggestion of something not being restrictively clear-cut and easily understandable.
@gigachigga
@gigachigga 27 дней назад
Thank god one of these video essayists actually took the time and effort to properly acknowledge the original novel. My favorite sci fi of all time
@therevenancy
@therevenancy Месяц назад
Really enjoyed your video, but the best part was discovering a fourth southern reach book is coming out in October. Thanks!
@IRB3020
@IRB3020 29 дней назад
14:38 i love Arrival!! awesome video man, pls keep it up 🙌
@Hytoene
@Hytoene Месяц назад
Came to the channel for the luscious finnish accent, stayed for the absolute bangers of videos, incredible job!
@JustCharlesBro
@JustCharlesBro 21 день назад
“Annihilation” and the game “still wakes the deep” were just IT when it comes to cosmic horror for me….dealing with something you just can’t fathom even if u want too is just utterly terrifying and extremely unsettling for me.
@wahwahmels41
@wahwahmels41 24 дня назад
This movie was so visualy unsettling, Its one of those movies you watch once. I still have yet to watch it again...
@miguelrios8622
@miguelrios8622 3 часа назад
That book was an experience for sure! 1/3 through acceptance now!
@emmphonic2199
@emmphonic2199 24 дня назад
“the alien” part of the soundtrack hits such a nerve with me, it makes me feels genuinely afraid and on edge when i hear it even as a stand-alone from the film and it’s context. i can’t even tell what it is about it that effects me so strongly but no other piece of music in horror has come even close to it
@austinmccool6132
@austinmccool6132 Месяц назад
Can't speak highly enough about the Southern Reach Trilogy. It's so fascinating. Did you use the Majula music from Dark Souls 2 as background music? If so, well done!
@criticalcoffee
@criticalcoffee Месяц назад
Yes! Love the Majula theme, makes me so nostalgic
@mikolajwisal
@mikolajwisal Месяц назад
Brother, keep at it! You did a great job on the Firewatch video, I hope that this brings you the popularity you deserve, your videos are amazing. You're a great video essayist
@criticalcoffee
@criticalcoffee Месяц назад
@@mikolajwisal thank you so much
@silentrocco
@silentrocco Месяц назад
The book is one of my most favorite reads of all time. Seriously a physical experience of the seemingly indiscribable. And I really enjoy rewatching Garland‘s film over and over.
@David-kg5nn
@David-kg5nn Месяц назад
Even the music is incredibly haunting.
@CraigMortonEHS
@CraigMortonEHS Месяц назад
thank God! finally an analysis that doesn't just regurgitate the back of the VHS tape blurb. thank you, thank you, thank you for actually analyzing!
@LordMogatron
@LordMogatron Месяц назад
Reading the Southern Reach trilogy was, to me, akin to what The Biologist went through. I was never quite sure if I was understanding what I was reading, I didn't know if what I saw in my mind was accurate, or if I was just trying to fill in gaps I didn't comprehend. It was a hell of a read.
@NiMonYo
@NiMonYo 22 дня назад
The fingerprints changing and the tattoo appearing on all members of the crew, and even the bear to some extend, it reminded me of how Dementia erodes your identity until only a few fractured memories and characteristics remain. The loss of self is about the only thing i fear when thinking about growing older.
@blodpudding
@blodpudding Месяц назад
I always think of it like death. On the surface it looks like we're destroyed when we die, but everything that makes us will remain. Our bodies breaking down, resurfacing as the dirt where plants go, the plants eaten by the deer, the deer eaten but the bear, and the bear... well I have eaten bear meat so I am part of that bear, that deer, that plant, that dirt, and that person that died long ago.
@bananafruit6060
@bananafruit6060 27 дней назад
You should TOTALLY READ THE BOOKS, a new one is coming out this October
@IrethEdelstein
@IrethEdelstein 26 дней назад
What some people don't get is that at the end the Alien and Lena are one. There's no difference between them, it doesn't matter who survived because THEY BOTH are Lena.
@devak45167
@devak45167 29 дней назад
I don’t know why more people don’t talk about this film among the greats of sci-fi horror. Barely any of my friends have even seen it (despite my unrelenting recommendations). Superb film, highly underrated
@spiritualanarchist8162
@spiritualanarchist8162 Месяц назад
For those who like the novel , look up :Roadside Picnic'' It's the novel Vandermeer inspired for making this series ( Some say 'stole the plot ' from ;)
@criticalcoffee
@criticalcoffee Месяц назад
It should be mentioned that VanderMeer himself denies this. Haven't read Roadside Picnic so can't comment further than that. Garland and DP Rob Hardy have been open about the Stalker influence.
@spiritualanarchist8162
@spiritualanarchist8162 Месяц назад
@@criticalcoffee Yes I remember that now. I forgot he said that back then, so I guess doubted it a bit . but who knows ? It feels rather similar, but it's possible.
@t1ll316
@t1ll316 Месяц назад
One of those movies you can rewatch just for the optics and vibe alone
@AzrielObniala
@AzrielObniala 18 дней назад
Humans to fungi, that one scene in the pool
@RealBradMiller
@RealBradMiller 15 дней назад
So cool!!
@DrCocofruit
@DrCocofruit 19 дней назад
When Lena said "It doesn't want" I interpreted it that this being doesn't have the emotional drives we humans contain, but instead something akin to cognitive. Why did it change the terrain? Was it curious at the complex structures of DNA in the living organisms around it, and how they produced different results in the organisms, such as the flower colours and types from what was once the same breed of bush. Does it want to play with DNA? Get extremes or unique forms that it can't find or wants to see? Such as the croc with shark-like teeth. Or is it testing, researching, analysing the contents of our planet? Such as the bear, with its given enhanced hearing and impressive vocal cords indistinct from a human. Or, even worse. Is it researching humans? Analysing their responses to all this chaos and entropy? Who knows? Humans sure won't
@viagotanega9898
@viagotanega9898 25 дней назад
I hate to be that guy, but the book is very very good. I don’t want to say better because I think the film is an incredible take on the book but PLEASE read the book.
@BiFive_
@BiFive_ 21 день назад
The Dark Souls 2 Majula track really made this video a 10/10 top an 11/10
@JMEon
@JMEon Месяц назад
Great video. Looking forward to rewatching the film.
@syra2323
@syra2323 28 дней назад
Writing this comment within the first 10 seconds of clicking on this video just to say I can't believe how many people who are specifically into cosmic horror sleep on annihilation so I commend you good sir for doing your part.
@cosmic--whorror
@cosmic--whorror Месяц назад
I adore both this movie and the book. I latch onto anything that keeps me up at night thinking as much as they did. I have Authority on my shelf and still need to read it. I had heard it's detached from Annihilation, so I've been putting it off. The video is great, thank you. I'm hoping this is the push I needed to pick it up and continue the story.
@Tallimme
@Tallimme 27 дней назад
Boosting the algorithm before even finishing the video. So far, very nice work 👌
@ChristopherSadlowski
@ChristopherSadlowski 29 дней назад
I loved this movie so much! After watching it with my mom I went on this, like, hour long diatribe about the themes and concepts. When I was tired out my mom simply looked at me and said, "I didn't get it. It was just weird." I was so surprised by her comment. How could you NOT have thoughts and opinions on it!? One of the things I said was something along the lines of, "the alien is simply doing what it evolved to do. It's just surviving, like everything alive is doing. Do you get angry at the bacteria that is making you sick? Can you BLAME the bacteria for doing what it does? You might not like being sick, but the bacteria doesn't know or care about your feelings..." This movie is so great to watch with a critical eye.
@plenku
@plenku 25 дней назад
Haven't read the book yet, but you reminded me to do so. The movie is sooo underrated!
@rotisseriepossum
@rotisseriepossum 22 дня назад
10:30 correct me if im wrong but, considering honey doesn’t go bad, describing the smell as ‘rotting honey’ is brilliant for a story abt the incomprehensible
@haleyrose1361
@haleyrose1361 10 дней назад
Im not sure if anyone mentioned it yet but there's a scene in the movie when Lena sees deer with flowers branching from their antlers. It's beautiful and magical and maybe evidence of animal to flora mutation?
@Trump20-24years
@Trump20-24years 19 дней назад
Keep up the good work mate!
@onlyonewhyphy
@onlyonewhyphy 27 дней назад
2:07 - _DON'T DO IT!_ It's terrible!! The book.. My god, it's awful. Significantly different to the movie, but it was not a fun or pleasant read. The movie is one of my all time favourites. The scene with the "bear" was one of the most unsettling things I've ever came across, as a concept.
@luthfibadri
@luthfibadri 19 дней назад
this movie makes me appreciate sound quality of movie more
@theterminaldave
@theterminaldave Месяц назад
Or maybe she knew the guy before he went in, and they had matching tattoos, As Natilie's character is only there because she also knew a prior expedition member.
@klovvin
@klovvin Месяц назад
Signalis song in the background
@StrawbrryVampire
@StrawbrryVampire Месяц назад
Im so happy to see a video essay done on my absolute favorite book ever
@ravendelacour1917
@ravendelacour1917 Месяц назад
An aside. Given the actor playing Lena's interrogator here also does the voice work for Alex Yu in the underrated cosmic horror video game Prey, it's my head canon that Prey is sequel to the Anihilation film where Alex and his brother foolishly try to do research on Shimmer related phenomena and it gets out of hand. :) Seriously though, if you haven't played Prey, do so. Solid cosmic horror with the ending twist being a unique approach to how to deal with an enroaching cosmic horror.
@criticalcoffee
@criticalcoffee Месяц назад
Oh I love Prey. Doesn't scratch the cosmic horror itch for me specifically, but I love the immersive sim design. Shame that Microsoft shut down Arkane Austin, would seem like we're not getting a sequel.
@ravendelacour1917
@ravendelacour1917 Месяц назад
@@criticalcoffee Not sure the narrative lends to a direct sequel but a spiritual sequel would be nice. Maybe let them remake System Shock 2 this time? :)
@criticalcoffee
@criticalcoffee Месяц назад
@@ravendelacour1917 Heh, I interpreted the ending to make way for a direct sequel where we would be controlling one of the aliens.
@ravendelacour1917
@ravendelacour1917 Месяц назад
@@criticalcoffee [Prey Spoilers ahead] We already were controlling an alien, silly. :)
@ravendelacour1917
@ravendelacour1917 Месяц назад
@@criticalcoffee On a serious note there are actually three founders of cosmic horror and three thematic formulas. Lovecraft's version is the most common and the default for most people, where people are helpless against cosmic evils. His creative peer Robert E. Howard contributed a lot to the genre's creation and his take was to violently oppose the horrors even if the fight is unwinnable in the end. Howard's original Conan series is the epitome of this with Conan fighting ancient evils and sorcerers from cosmic horror backgrounds but not understanding what they are. He just kills them with swords. Prey and many other action cosmic horror games take on the Howard motif of challenging the horrors rather than fleeing from them as a Lovecraftian protagonist would. As for the third, that's Clark Ashton Smith who is the decadent artist who created the artistic style Giger later popularized. He wrote cosmic horror that went into really, really adult themes and absolute nihilism and are not ones I recommend unless you're really into some bleak stuff.
@TimeKeeperBris
@TimeKeeperBris Месяц назад
The aspects of mutation, as well as the visual choice for the shimmer remind me a lot of the new-ish game, Still Wakes The Deep!
@criticalcoffee
@criticalcoffee Месяц назад
I've been meaning to get around to that! Very "The Thing" inspired IIRC
@MetalMew2
@MetalMew2 6 часов назад
My postulation about the man with living intestines, not to distinct in affect or ethics/environment to the nightmare-bear, the opposite is a Man-conscience that would purpetuate the same circular reasoning as natural or intelligent, to possibly hunt a Bear for "thrills" or eat a Snake if it's not truly objective or simple/symmetrical horror.
@DruNature
@DruNature 28 дней назад
I love this movie so much!! best climax of any sci fi film I can remember, love the sound track, intense!!
@keithhealing1115
@keithhealing1115 Месяц назад
Is this not a long-form re-telling of The Colour Out Of Space?
@duncan_of_hallback857
@duncan_of_hallback857 28 дней назад
i think they way she killed the alien was quite genius. it was coppying everything about her so then she set off white phosphorus on it and then it tried to copy that and ended up spreading it.
@GeraltOfArabia
@GeraltOfArabia 29 дней назад
Bro, that fcking bear 😳
@Magdalena8008s
@Magdalena8008s Месяц назад
All 3 books are great. For some reason the second two get glossed over. But they are solid.
@kathrynclaire25
@kathrynclaire25 Месяц назад
had to leave a like for one of my fave movies.. actually got me into sci fi. I loved the book even more!!
@TheBeird
@TheBeird Месяц назад
Love this flick I can’t be the only one who thought of the doppelgänger puzzle from the first Tomb Raider when the alien mirrors Natalie Portman? That, or the scene with Graucho and Harpo in Duck Soup? Granted, that’s a very specific cross pollination of influences to someone of a particular age range and taste
@CharlesVanNoland
@CharlesVanNoland Месяц назад
They should really make a VR game that explores being in the prism, venturing into it, and transforming and merging.
@thejustinsteffan
@thejustinsteffan 26 дней назад
Dumb
@jlllx
@jlllx 24 дня назад
that would be so cool
@CharlesVanNoland
@CharlesVanNoland 21 день назад
​@@thejustinsteffan Obviously you're only capable of envisioning its execution being dumb because you have zero vision or graphics programming experience. You haven't even seen a glimpse of what's actually possible. You probably think all VR games are limited to looking like N64. I wouldn't be surprised if you've never even experienced proper VR. I don't think I could make a prism render run well on the mobile/Quest headsets (then it WOULD look like N64), but I think I could get it to run fast enough with a PC GPU churning through the diffractive iridescent raymarching operations.
@jimtheedcguy4313
@jimtheedcguy4313 Месяц назад
I absolutely love this movie, but what I don’t understand is why didn’t they just tie a harness to the soldiers, send them a few feet in, and pull them back out. Or a hardwired robot with a cable attached (since RF signals couldn’t get through).
@timoscholehwar6644
@timoscholehwar6644 Месяц назад
i do understand why a lot of stuff from the books never made it into the movie (the creeper, etc...). but why did they have to make the final confrontation the exact opposite of the one in the books? the whole point was that you can't just throw a grenade and all problems are solved. uh, well... :/
@sub-jec-tiv
@sub-jec-tiv 22 дня назад
And it would have been even better if Garland had kept the author's original ideas and didn't go off into a "2001" wonder-tangent at the end of the film.
@jl4w54
@jl4w54 23 дня назад
Great video I loved this!!
@criticalcoffee
@criticalcoffee 23 дня назад
thank you so much!
@aquaticborealis4877
@aquaticborealis4877 Месяц назад
You should watch Folding Ideas analysis of this film. It makes things much clearer.
@xdarkjimmyx
@xdarkjimmyx 3 дня назад
I love the book, and I reaaaaally wanted to love the film. I love the concept of the film, but to me it's executed so poorly that even though I watched it three times, I couldn't bring myself to enjoy it. Amazing video! Keep it up!
@RumbleFilthskin
@RumbleFilthskin Месяц назад
Good cosmic horror reminds me a lot of hallucinogenic loops you get on lsd etc etc when one minute passes but feels like an hour, but without the d*ugs
@pirate2041
@pirate2041 23 дня назад
I have the same tattoo because of this movie, it was my first and so far only tattoo!
@Xavier-yj6zi
@Xavier-yj6zi Месяц назад
Watched this movie offa acid. Funniest shit I’ve ever scene
@litneyloxan
@litneyloxan 19 дней назад
the alien species reminds me of the copy cat alien from doctor who that he didn't recognize
@gustavoschnurr1907
@gustavoschnurr1907 Месяц назад
The shimmer seems to transform and create new things. It came to our planet by any or no specific reason at all, but it seems to do what it does and wants to assimilate and learn new things. As you said it, the group represents many forms of loss but mostly of self destruction, and destruction is something that the shimmer doesn't understand... that is, until Lena comes. Yes, by changing something you destroy a part of it, but you still leave a resemblance of it. Now, the real and total anihilation of something comes when it learns from Lena the meaning of self-destruction and is what it does. It self destructs and ceases to exist. I don't think that it is livingin Lena as a virus or a parasite. I think it changed her and vanished leving behind nothing but its "creations".
@christineignatov
@christineignatov Месяц назад
Chaos and order are both a part of life. It makes sense that we seek both in some respect.
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