Annihilation

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Movies Cheryl Eddy Mar 23

Alex Garland’s Civil War Is Apparently a Freaking Masterpiece

The controversial thriller starring Kirsten Dunst and Cailee Spaeny has earned rave reviews out of South by Southwest.

Movies Germain Lussier Mar 15

The Cait Corrain Review Controversy Explained, and More Top Pop Culture News of the Week

From Doctor Who 's final anniversary special to hot new trailers for Dune Part 2 and more, it was a busy week on io9—check out the biggest stories here!

io9 James Whitbrook Dec 16

Alex Garland’s Next Movie Looks Scarier Than Any of His Sci-Fi Films

Civil War is... exactly what you're scared it could be. Kirsten Dunst stars in the April 26 release, and you can watch the trailer now.

Trailers Germain Lussier Dec 13

6 Excellent Jennifer Jason Leigh Sci-Fi Performances

Jennifer Jason Leigh is incredibly versatile, with a career that’s spanned wildly different movies like Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Anomalisa, Single White Female, The Hudsucker Proxy, Dolores Claiborne, and The Hateful Eight. She’s not always the lead, and the films she’s in are not always masterpieces—but she always makes movies better with her presence.…

Movies Cheryl Eddy Nov 9

6 Times Women Joined Forces to Face Movie Horrors

Horror movies have been winnowing their casts down to a “final girl” since the 1970s. But as these more recent films show—on a list that includes two reboots of early slashers—the chances of survival are much greater when it’s a group of women instead… even if the dynamics within that group aren’t always peaceful. 1)…

Movies Cheryl Eddy Sep 4

Tessa Thompson’s 11 Best Genre Roles (So Far)

Tessa Thompson is a versatile actress who’s done way more than just sci-fi and fantasy stuff—you’ve probably seen the Creed movies, and you should check out Little Woods if you haven’t yet. But she sure is in a lot of genre projects, which is a big reason why we love her so much. Behold, our…

Movies Cheryl Eddy Apr 14

Annihilation Author Jeff VanderMeer Tells Us How He Makes His Sci-Fi Feel Authentic

Science fiction author Jeff VanderMeer doesn’t just envision a better world. He hopes to live in a less stupid world. VanderMeer is famously known for his novel, Borne—the universe in which his most recent novel, Dead Astronauts, is set—and his Southern Reach trilogy, the first book of which was adapted into the 2018 Alex Garland…

Books & Comics Ryan F. Mandelbaum Feb 28

Ex Machina’s Alex Garland Lifted the Curtain on FX’s Devs at NYCC

Director Alex Garland’s (Ex Machina, Annihilation) latest project is headed to television rather than theaters. Up until now, we didn’t have much to go on in terms of what FX’s Devs was actually about—but thanks to a big coming out panel at New York Comic Con this past weekend, we’re extremely hyped for the sci-fi…

io9 Jill Pantozzi Oct 7

The 10 Best (and 5 Worst) Films of 2018

Way back at the beginning of 2018, you kind of had feeling it was going to be a good year at the movies. Two weeks in, we had a contender in the form of Paddington 2. February brought the $700 million hit Black Panther and the hypnotic Annihilation. And even before that, film festivals introduced…

io9 Germain Lussier Dec 19

6 Actors Who Were Double-Duty Genre Superstars in 2018

It’s not unusual for popular actors to be cast in multiple movies and TV shows in a relatively short time period—but 2018 had an unusual number of performers doing double duty in notable genre projects. Here are six of our favorite ubiquitous faces this year. 1) Ann Dowd, Hereditary and The Handmaid’s Tale A well-known…

Movies Cheryl Eddy Dec 12

How Annihilation Relies on Metaphor to Make Meaning

How do complicated, ambiguous stories work? What role does literal interpretation play in a story laced in metaphor? They’re good questions to ask, and especially good questions to ask about io9-favorite Alex Garland’s Annihilation. In a video essay about the very topic, Folding Ideas, aka Dan Olson, dives into the questions with gusto and critical…

Movies Julie Muncy Nov 3

Alex Garland’s Sci-Fi Show Starring Nick Offerman and Ex Machina’s Sonoya Mizuno Is a Go

The director of Ex Machina and Annihilation has a new sci-fi project, and it’s coming to FX with a little help from his friends. Deadline reports the network just picked up an eight-episode limited series called Devs, directed by Alex Garland, about “a young computer engineer [who] investigates the secretive development division of her employer, a…

io9 Germain Lussier Aug 3

Andrew Lincoln May Not Be the Only Walking Dead Star Leaving Next Season

Paul Rudd could be joining the live-action Sonic the Hedgehog movie. Uma Thurman is heading to Netflix for supernatural shenanigans. Alex Garland doesn’t want to direct a followup to Annihilation. Plus, new footage from Jurassic World and the return of Humans, and new set pictures from Iron Fist. Spoilers, go! Sonic the Hedgehog That Hashtag…

io9 James Whitbrook May 30

The Story Behind Annihilation‘s Most Terrifying Creature Is Equally Horrific

Though you aren’t given much information about just what many of the strange, mutated creatures in Alex Garland’s Annihilation are, the film gives most of them enough time on screen to let you draw some logical conclusions. But one of the deadliest monsters lurking in the Shimmer—it ultimately ends up killing one of the scientists—only…

Movies Charles Pulliam-Moore Mar 1

This Breathtaking Art Is Like Annihilation Contained in a Petri Dish

Annihilation has been dazzling audiences with its exploration of the Shimmer, a world inside our own where life… has found a way. One artist looks to have been channeling that otherworldly shimmer for awhile now, using petri dishes. The series “Petrified Rainbow” from artist Josie Lewis uses resin and chemicals to create strange and colorful…

Movies Beth Elderkin Feb 27

Annihilation Is Actually a Warning About How Dangerous the World of Pokémon Really Is

To everyone marveling at how imaginative and wondrous all of Annihilation’s fantastical, mutated creatures are, you realize they’re all just Pokémon, right? We’ll explain below—but it will involve a great number of spoilers for the film, so beware. The vast majority of Alex Garland’s Annihilation takes place within the Shimmer. It’s a mysterious area around…

Movies Charles Pulliam-Moore Feb 27

Annihilation Reminds Us Why We Need Ecological Horror Stories

Annihilation isn’t a perfect movie. But it deserves credit for striving to tackle a subject few mainstream films ever take more than a glancing interest in: the inherent weirdness, and fragility, of ecological systems. And given the harsh realities of our rapidly deteriorating biosphere, that’s something we could use more of right now. Spoilers for Annihilation ahead.…

Conservation Maddie Stone Feb 26

The Scariest Creature in Annihilation Has a Really Cute Name

You know the one I’m talking about. Yeah, the bear, which serves as an uncanny representative of the strange mutations of the environment beyond the Shimmer. Talking to Entertainment Weekly, Annihilation’s visual effects supervisor Andew Whitehurst discussed the design of the creature and how, on the set, at least, it had a very cute name.…

Movies Julie Muncy Feb 25

The io9 History of Annihilation, From Book to Film to Controversy

When Alex Garland’s Annihilation opens Friday, it will be the end of a long journey for the film. It began way back in 2013 when Paramount bought the movie rights to Jeff VanderMeer’s book and its sequels, before they were even published. io9 has been covering Annihilation since the very beginning, and we thought it…

Movies Germain Lussier Feb 22

Annihilation

8 Horror Movies to Welcome Spring’s Arrival

Alex Garland’s Civil War Is Apparently a Freaking Masterpiece

The Cait Corrain Review Controversy Explained, and More Top Pop Culture News of the Week

Alex Garland’s Next Movie Looks Scarier Than Any of His Sci-Fi Films

6 Excellent Jennifer Jason Leigh Sci-Fi Performances

6 Times Women Joined Forces to Face Movie Horrors

Tessa Thompson’s 11 Best Genre Roles (So Far)

Annihilation Author Jeff VanderMeer Tells Us How He Makes His Sci-Fi Feel Authentic

Ex Machina’s Alex Garland Lifted the Curtain on FX’s Devs at NYCC

The 10 Best (and 5 Worst) Films of 2018

6 Actors Who Were Double-Duty Genre Superstars in 2018

How Annihilation Relies on Metaphor to Make Meaning

Alex Garland’s Sci-Fi Show Starring Nick Offerman and Ex Machina’s Sonoya Mizuno Is a Go

Andrew Lincoln May Not Be the Only Walking Dead Star Leaving Next Season

The Story Behind Annihilation‘s Most Terrifying Creature Is Equally Horrific

This Breathtaking Art Is Like Annihilation Contained in a Petri Dish

Annihilation Is Actually a Warning About How Dangerous the World of Pokémon Really Is

Annihilation Reminds Us Why We Need Ecological Horror Stories

The Scariest Creature in Annihilation Has a Really Cute Name

The io9 History of Annihilation, From Book to Film to Controversy

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