Life Hacking Life: The Scary Premise Of 'Annihilation'
As with Ex Machina, says Marcelo Gleiser, director Alex Garland is sending a warning: We are now hacking life itself and will continue to do so with growing efficiency. Are we creating our own doom?
"Hauntingly beautiful." "Terrifying and seductive." "A bit too crazy for me."
These are some viewer reactions after watching Alex Garland's Annihilation, a fantasy sci-fi drama that leaves you in a weird state for days.
Garland's previous movie, the amazing Ex Machina (reviewed here in May 2015), explores the notion that artificial-intelligence machines will quickly surpass our human intellectual abilities and learn to control us by exploiting our weak spots. In the movie's case, the weak spot was our need to love and be loved. The message of Ex Machina is clear: If we hack intelligence, we may be our own victims.
Spoiler alert: If you haven't watched Annihilation
