I gave a fair try at a rewatch of the movie, “Annihilation”, seeing as I fell asleep during my first go, but discovered to my disappointment that I must have fallen asleep out of boredom.

Natalie Portman’s performance as a scientist and grieving wife was solid, as were the portrayals done by other actors, but as a whole the movie ultimately fell flat due to a confusing and empty narrative.

The only thing making it watchable was the special effects and scenery.

Credit where it is due: the scenery was vibrant, eerie, extremely well-done. The first half of the movie was consistently engaging due to the conflicts supported by great cinematics and effects. The conflicts faced by the characters began with familiar human conflicts, and followed progressively stranger sci-fi dangers. First, we had the relatable human conflicts, then as the team delved beyond “The Shimmer” mutated animals and plants took us one step further while maintaining a familiar foundation for our . This eventually failed as the explanation for these fantastical and existential threats to humanity never went beyond wiggling fingers. “DNA! Maybe aliens?”

The visuals were intriguing, but concealed a lack of substance. We had a conflict, but no resolution, in a way that made it seem as if the writer wanted us to draw our own conclusions, but not giving enough information to do so.

“Annihilation” tried to be that movie that makes you think and pay close attention in order to “get it,” but without anything to “get” it was just a couple hours of science mumbo-jumbo punctuated by jump scares.