I would say that your theorie of the organism 'wanting' to evolve takes you back to the beginning of your video. It's a projection of we would want it to be. But i don't think that the organism follows a purpose. Evolution didn't follow a purpose, cancer doesn't follow a purpose. All these things just happen, and they happen on a very physical level. The shimmer takes it a step further. It mixes the physical with the meta physical. It's not only survival of the fittest. It's survival of the ones who are willing enough to overcome their selfdestructive ways. Survival of the ones who are willing to live.
I disagree in a way with your take on the organism's purpose. After Lena confronted it, it was clear that this organism didn't have an ulterior motive, it didn't have an agenda or a grand scheme to take over Earth. There was no intention of harming or helping, it didn't even seemed like it was at all sentient, it only "mirrored" whatever data was fed to it, whether it was DNA, radio signals or whatever else. I think the best description is the one that they use in the movie, a "prism" of sorts, one that bonds, mutates and resonates with its surroundings. So I very much doubt the organism concocted a plot to make Lena use that grenade by "planting" that video recording in the lighthouse. In the end, it is clear that the original Lena survived (no way the organism survived that grenade+we see the shimmer vanish), albeit with her DNA structure modified and the Kane we see at the end it's definitely a clone that is still struggling to maintain a human form with its alien composition. However, when we see their irides glow in strange colors in the very last frames, I see that not as a sinister omen, but simply that it's recognizing its own nature in another organism and that it will continue to survive. I could be wrong though.
Just saw the movie for a second time... I think the themes of self-destruction and broken relationships fit in with the coworker the Biologist had an affair with. At the start of the movie (after she cuts their affair off) he invites her over for a barbecue with his family. At first viewing this seems like a nice gesture to help her out of her depression. Seeing it a second time, it's clear the guy is following through on his own pattern of self-destruction, inviting the woman he had an affair with to hang out with him and his wife, a subconscious effort to make everything blow up in his own face. All I know is that as a huge fan of the novel, I'm glad the movie turned out as great as it did despite, or maybe even because, it did something different with the source material.
here's another idea: what if the shimmer just simply refracts, and so it starts off mixing dna of animals, rocks etc but it's essentially a harmless organism. Then humans send in the military who attack the unknown and self-destructive scientists and that mindset refracts throughout the shimmer making it into this new frightening place. Perhaps this film is about our self-destruction but also our tendency to react in destructive ways, particularly toward the environment.
Hmm, wow that's actually a really smart and different way of looking at this movie! And in truth, makes the most sense. I'm going to have to rewatch this movie now. Thanks 👍
that was my first idea and imho it was confirmed throughout the movie. maybe it's just a cosmic copy machine for bad copies, that can act as ignition for evolution
in some moments reminds me of Nietzche's quote: "Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster... for when you gaze long into the abyss. The abyss gazes also into you."
6 Months from now, any person wanting to see it, will have. Some pay, some go to theaters, some don't. Theater box office is FAR from the only success factor these days.
It's only available in Theaters in USA, and only in select theaters. I saw it on day one, but I had to drive to a distant theater to see it because the other two theaters I live by didn't play it.
One of my fave details is the color used to show the infidelity scene was blue. The blue moonlight lit the room While Portman cheated on her husband. Then notice she colored the BLUE ROOM into a white color. Signifying she’s cleaning her past. Mind blown.
Maybe this is why the lighthouse inside was white too?? Btw don't put it past Garland to give the movie that level of detail because that's exactly what he did with the also brilliant Ex Machina.
I noticed that th3 last time you sew Kane & Lena it's through a clear-ish isolation plastic which then transition to show through a blue, more obscure plastic.
I wanna rewatch this because of this amazing analysis, but I am still scared as fuck of that scream bear and the Capri Sun alien. Anyone else feel the same way?
Me. Was screaming at my screen the whole time Natalie Portman was sticking her face into that shimmer organism and the bear creeped me tf out. honestly I find sci-fi/dystopian films scarier than horror films
I don't get why people are scared of this bear. It's literally just a bear, but with some visual effects applied to it and a different set of noises. It still poses same level of threat as a bear does, no more no less. The bear part is scary, the noise/cosmetic changes are meaningless.
Tagnar I don’t think it’s that cut and dry, humans are wired to be afraid of things we don’t understand, a human voice screaming out in fear and pain coming from the thing that caused it to do it in the first place is terrifying. Bears are powerful and also very scary. It’s hard to know why things creep us out.
I recognized that it was her house, but thought maybe I crazy and was just looking too much into it. The movie really messed with my head while I was watching it. I only knew I was correct when movie reviewers mentioned it.
Jon Stewart. Now here is the mind blowing part. Maybe the house was not a recreation, but rather *the actual home* Lena was in. Remember when Kane 2.0 responded to the question on how he found her - "he saw her in a room and went in." That's exactly what happened at the beginning when he arrived and she was painting. The reason he went to Lena is that the "clone" was ordered by Kane 1.0 "go find Lena". So we know that it was Kane 2.0 aka the clone who found Lena - in other words *the shimmer went to Lena*.
Why does the alien need to have a plan or want anything? Can we just accept that perhaps this organism is simply fulfilling nature of its being? Why do we always need motive.
I see that as fulfilling it’s nature. We usually deal with physical organisms that expand and try to evolve - but this one goes into the subconscious so it evolves differently
The AtZ Show I just meant that I don't believe this alien is a sentient being with a grand master plan. I think the only consciousness present within it is from what it has absorbed (animals, humans). I view it essentially as a giant blender that remixes everything that comes in contact with it. But that's it.
That was exactly my take. That it was not even an "organism" but like a "field" kind of like a "magnetic field". Note when they enter the shimmer - that compasses spin around and the radios don't work!
I don't think The Shimmer's 'motive' or whether it has one at all is really the issue here, but unless its arrival on Earth is simply a random accident I think it's safe to assume there's some kind of internal logic to its existence. Thanks for a very insightful analysis btw, The AtZ Show! The best sci-fi always functions as a vessel in which to explore far more interesting and abstract concepts. I mean, sure, a straightforward showdown between humanity and an alien interloper is the literal interpretation. But then metaphor and allegory are infinitely more effective if they aren't glaringly obvious from the get-go.
Thank you for posting this! My boyfriend and I saw this at a preview screening and have been trying to wrack our brains to analyze it and come to a significant conclusion about what themes/messages we were left with. Your explanation, as always, is so clear, concise, and well-researched. We both truly appreciate your work!
A lovecraftian retelling of the story of Adam and eve which itself is a story of self destruction. In both tellings, seeking knowledge leads to destruction.
Jonathan Walden I thought of Lovecraft while I watched this movie, too. Not Adam and Eve, per se, but the movie definitely reminded me of his story about the meteor and the well and how it changed the landscape and the man who stayed there with his family. I listened to that story on Spotify at night and thankfully not in the dark. I don’t remember the name of it, off the top of my head, but the scenes are definitely similar regarding mutation, to an extent. Definitely “bad dream-ish.”
Considering the metaphor of marriage, can it then be said that Kane was literally "dying inside" when talking to lena for the first time since the affair?
That would explain why Kane looked and acted like the one that was in the shimmer in the scene where leaves her. Why he had combed hair and was shaved. Whoa...
I watched Annihilation and thought it was so stupid. Turns out I was the one who couldn't comprehend what the movie really was trying to say. Thanks for the breakdown.
Melissa Oliva I was saying I didn't like the movie the first time I saw it and then when I got others opinion on what it was about and then watched it again I grew to respect it. It's still a bad movie if people don't like it when they first watch it. The general public won't care about the idea the movie is trying to display. If the story makes no sense and is very dry then it's a bad movie. If you got every single visual and plot point the first time then good for you.
Troy Mason Relax Relax everybody the movie is very well explanatory, I am not judging you but it is pretty sad as a society that MUST people didn't understand anything about this movie. The same case goes to movies like lord of the rings in which MANY people say is "too complicated". They pulled this movie out of the theaters because it was "TOO INTELLECTUAL" for general audiences.
Marriage can evolve into something beautiful, bring shared dreams, unified hopes Or marriage can be a cancer and destroy the individual, your wildest dreams, your sole hopes
nooo the clone dosent want lena to go into the glimmer, that would mean that the alien life force that landed on earth had a purpose in why it landed there. It Found her because thats what the real kane wanted it to do, the clone was just a manifestation of its own self, no purpose as the glimmer itself. Just trying to adapt to its environment
Yup, the real Kane told his clone to go find Lena. Of course, at that point, his mind was, as he put it, " cut loose," so it's also possible that the shimmer influenced him to do that.
So, by drawing Lena into itself to eventually be destroyed while planting a piece of itself inside her, The Shimmer actually committed the greatest act of self-destruction in the film, yet still with the promise of rebirth.
I just watched the movie last night and I had trouble sleeping because my mind was racing since I kept trying to process all of it. Ive been watching reviews and explanations on YT all day and THANK YOU for finally making sense of things. Especially the metaphor about marriage. BRILLIANT. I think ill consider watching it a second time if the soundtrack doesn't haunt me too much lol.
Henrietta Lacks cells were not "practically" stolen. They were STOLEN outright without her knowledge nor her permission to replicate them. She thought they were trying to cure her and she suffered greatly during to time she had cervical cancer. I love your show.
INCREDIBLE video, man! I absolutely loved this film, and it will probably be in my top 5 at the end of the year. You really opened my mind to the marriage metaphor. One of my only flaws with the movie the first time I saw it was that the affair flashbacks and subplot felt kinda irrelevant to the story, but then I thought about it more and it shows why he leaves to go to the shimmer and it contributes to the marriage metaphor. I'm seeing it again tomorrow and I can't wait to see what more I pick up on.
The score creeps the fuck out of me, the movie as a whole was frightening because it had me thinking about how self destructive I can be and how we have this trait go from our personalities to our very own cells. This movie blew my mind. People were definitely expecting something a little more straightforward and more about a monster though, saw a lot people getting up in the theatre.
It was really a hardcore movie. So did they get up when the bear monster came in, or just because they thought it was stupid?? Really this movie is going to become a classic.
Movie is about cancer/duality and the mathematical pattern that we perceive as good/evil. At least for me. It is about the fractal of life and what would happen if an alien cancer was introduced into the emotional cancer that is the self destruction of man. I think it is a commentary on destruction being creation and the overall positive/negative vibration that is life throughout eternity in our universe. Cancer destroys yet creates and if you survive it, it changes you forever; you become something different yet the same. THis is all delivered in the context of an alien organism of sorts (a cancer if you will) simply living and growing while destroying/creating and manipulating us while binding and mirroring us as well as binding us to everything we come into contact with. It is an organism that shows us these connections as they grow like a tumor, and this applies to time, space, emotion, dna, self... it is what would happen if time and our boundaries of reality became sick if you will and unraveled before us, revealing to the mind that we are all one connected organism. I do not think the concept of marriage is a main point for me, but rather our emotional connections and the butterfly effect throughout time of our choices and how they impact eachother. How one choice in a partnership replicates throughout both individuals, like how a tumor grows. Her choices led to him going on the mission, which led to the shimmer getting out, which led to her being arrested, which led to her guilt over his state, which led to her feeling lost and going inside the shimmer, which led to them being back together only as different vessels. Brilliant film no matter how you slice it.
HAHAHA Okay Kenny... Do explain yourself if you think you are right. What good is your almighty wisdom if you simply relegate yourself to "...No, you are wrong"? Enlighten me, grand master. Are you saying the film that constantly speaks about cancer and the cellular division of cells within a tumor is NOT about cancer in a way? Are you saying that the film that openly discusses self destruction and has a finale with an alien that destroys itself is NOT about self destruction? What are you saying is wrong, guy?
Cancer is definitely a theme in the movie. She tells her students in the beginning that they'll be studying cancer cells. The psychologist also has cancer which is what ends up swallowing her blood cell that makes her clone.
4:20 I really like how they applied the Mandelbrot set. It's a beautiful metaphor that captures the theme of the movie. The Mandelbrot set is an example where infinite complexity can arise from simple rules. This mirrors the shimmer in that it works based on simple rules, refraction, but the result is complexity of endless possibilities.
I was beyond confused over this entire movie. Your explanation definitely allowed me to understand some of these aspects more clearly. Very nicely done.
Marco Carmona if you still haven’t seen it you won’t be let down. It is mind bending. Although I hope you didn’t watch this vid before you see it. It’s best seen without these explanations beforehand
Unless you have a home theater system. You won’t get the full experience. I’ve seen this movie twice already, and about to see it again in the theater. The ending scene alone is worth it.
It is even in the title, "Annihilation." Something else I saw in the film, and it can sort of fit in to the theme of self destruction, was how Lovecraftian the film is. Think about it. The cause of everything is an alien whose origins and intentions are unknown. And like in all Lovecraft stories, the closer the characters get to the source of the problem, the more their sanity slips. And what is insanity if not self-destruction of the mind? Even the location it lands at on earth is a lighthouse near the ocean. And the ocean is very important in Lovecraftian lore, that's where Cthulhu sleeps. And even Lena staring into that void at the end reminded me a lot of characters being transfixed and losing their minds because of whatever Eldritch creature they've just encountered. My God I love this movie. So much to unpack, so much to read into, so many interpretations! It is hands down one of the best I've ever seen.
She's her OG self in the end, here's why. 100%. that 'spark' in the end in her eyes that was also in his, was just her new altered DNA and altered self replicating or reciprocating the love in the embrace with her partner. His eye spark was obviously the shimmers version of showing that affection, so therefore the altered parts inside of her from the shimmer experience reciprocated that in a way to 'communicate' with him/it/clone on his own 'language' in a way. To summarise, in the end she WAS her original self, and that spark was just her altered DNA reciprocating the compassion to the 'husband clone' in the context of its communicative language... which as we know from the whole damn move IS Shimmering light! lol.. mind blown. ;) who gets me?
Can you talk about the part where Lena said that she made it out alive of the shimmer because she had to? Opposed to the other girls that didn't have a reason to go back or something of that sort
Excellent analysis man. Multi layered. Love that you used the score from the film. I think Lena did use her self destructive mindset to destroy the shimmer at the end after they merged but I don't think it matters because it's ultimate goal was to get those two together. It doesn't need the shimmer anymore to evolve. And we have no idea what Lena is capable of now that her biology has been forever changed. And yes I agree that Lena was not duplicated at the end. Was waiting for this video.
yep, 100%. that 'spark' in the end in her eyes that was also in his, was just her new altered DNA and altered self replicating or reciprocating the love in the embrace with her partner. His eye spark was obviously the shimmers version of showing that affection, so therefore the altered parts inside of her from the shimmer experience reciprocated that in a way to 'communicate' with him/it/clone on his own 'language' in a way. To summarise, in the end she WAS her original self, and that spark was just her altered DNA reciprocating the compassion to the 'husband clone' in the context of its communicative language... which as we know from the whole damn move IS Shimmering light! lol.. mind blown. ;) who gets me?
One of the best ending theory I've seen for Annihilation ! I buy it all the way 😄 Nice job showing actors and director interwiews where they explaine their interpretation od the film. Great video ! Thanks and congrats 👍
So People who actually try to accept it for what it is and don't have the strength to change it... Then the shimmer consumes you somehow one way or another and you die... Self-destruction... but for people who want to change and fix whatever the problem is in their life thats destroying them... the Shimmer will duplicate another version of you (that in some aspects is a 2.0 version of your previous self) so that you can endure and evolve into a better person... but your previous self is now annihilated... Real growth... Real Development... Hmmmmmm.... Genius!
Personally I think it’s the original because we se her blending with the shimmer earlier in the movie. She is small part shimmer; clone Kane is small part human. Yin and Yang, baby. Lmao he said basically what I said I should have finished the video before I commented.
Great explain, I thought maybe she was a refraction of herself, but now I realize it was her but altered. It's like she and her husband were the new proverbial adam and eve of the future earth world.
Really thoughtful essay on one of my favorite films in recent memory. I watch the last 20 minutes or so regularly because it's like nothing I've ever seen on film, but it also conveys the struggle and acceptance of one's Shadow. Thank you for your insightful commentary.
Terrific video! I really enjoyed this movie and I'm still reeling from what it all meant to me! As always, your insight literally expands my mind to see the finer details while slowing pulling my hair out to my own annihilation... Okay that last part was so badly worded. LMAO! Either way, top tier work, Art!
randomly stumbled on your channel. best random click ever. great analysis, also "high-fructose dirt" almost gave me a coughing fit i was laughing so hard
Oh wow what an incredible analysis, I hope one day i will be able to figure out all the themes, details, symbolism from a movie like annihilation ! Great video !
My interpretation (at least the last half) was humanity's initial reaction to "change'. When someone new comes a long asking new questions doing something different you've never heard sometimes you want to even dispose of that change and in the end change will happen no matter how hard you try to stop it.... it may sound kind of dumb. I'll just take your interpretation from now on LOL
ATZ at its best#!! I must admit, i just hit that bell! Ive watched 5 different videos, to try and piece this film! And this ending theory finally got me at peace!
Thank you! Such a beautiful explanation for this film. Ive been so disappointed with other reviews/explanations. Self-awarness is so so important. It doesn't mean that we will stop all self-destructive behaviors...since they're "impulses" (some are at least...nothing is black or white) but we can stop ourselves from doing them once we realize that toxic behavior. I.e cheating, smoking, eating crap... Find the root of why we do those things, heal, and go forward. I loved this film so much and the Original Score! 💖🎶
Portman said the clues are echoes. Things shown early might echo later in the movie. Look at lenas wedding ring. It switched hands the moment she wakes up in the camp. Her trigger finger also switched hands from her military photos. A debate worthy theory is that the people Woking up in the camps are all clones. Clones don't seem to remember things and they don't remember much as they awake. The real crew has already mutated into something. The bear might be the real sheppard mutating as you can see human like skulls imprinted on the side of the bear's face. It pleads them to help her not mimicking the last words of its victim. The doppelganger lena met on the lighthouse might not be the doppelganger. It might be the mutated lena. If you noticed her first reaction after catching fire was shocked and scared, then she went to her husbands burnt body and carasses him, out of anything else. Lenas so called doppelganger wears the wedding ring on the correct hand instead of the surviving lena. In the ending as lena puts down the glass after she drinks you can see her hands image in the glass is inverted and mirrored. This movie emphasises on distorted or. Mirrored refractions. Now the shimmers has found the absolute species to rule earth. As adaptations occur it finds the best host to adapt and survive in the environment and once they agreed humans makes the best hosts/clone to dominate earth (or to simply just evolve and breed in the surroundings as any mammals survival instinct), they stop the lengthy and energy draining shimmering process.
I assume you haven't read the books. The reason why things are different and people have lost memories when waking up at the camp was because the psychologist was drugging them.
I've read several theories, and I just wanted to chime in and say I found yours to be very helpful and unique. Most have touched on themes of cancer and self destruction, but I really like how you went into depth on a marriage metaphor. Genuinely added another layer of depth to an already complex film.
I came here expecting to find another review that had completely missed the depth of this film. I’m leaving a subscriber. This dude knows what’s up. This movie is about alien invasion, survival of the fittest, evolution/creation/big bang happening again, depression, self destruction, toxic masculinity, cancer...and I think there is more. I’m glad there are people smart enough to see the depth here.
Huh? Oh boy, ET, Star Child, Close Encounter... those are just the movies I thought up at the top of my head.… Having an alien that isn’t trying to destroy or take over is not even close to a new idea.
i knew that when the scene where lena and "kaine 2.0" were touching hands behind the glass in one shot, that the movie would go on about how their relationship was distorted in a way and im so glad i was the only one who first saw that too. when watching i always like to think back to why certain things were filmed in a certain way because everything has some reasoning behind it
this is probs the best review and analysis of this movie ive seen.most reviewers just skim whats shown at face value and the basic narrative whereas you've thought about this in depth and perspective. thank you
I had a lot of struggles pulling all the threads that I found in this movie together. I found a bunch of other interpretations but yours about the marriage hits home the most for me. Thanks for sharing.
I thought too that the 5 characters were also representations of the 5 stages of grief for death and dying. It’s just tying in with the symbolism of the Shimmer/alien force being the representation of ‘cancer’.
Great movie analysis once again AtZ. I saw your analysis on Mother! and enjoyed your take compared to other popular commentators, so I came straight to your channel for this movie. Keep up the brilliant work :D
Those aren't flowers taking on human form. Those are humans that became flowers and kept their human dimensions. It's what was happening to Tessa Thompson's character.
Brandon Reed it is. They were talking about it in the reflection discussion. How all the dna was bouncing around and merging. The plant dna merged with the human dna that gives us our structure. It’s both ways.
Wow. I've been watching your vids for a while now, and I gotta say this is probably the best explained video I've ever seen for any movie, like you deserve all the props for this bro. This video blew me away possibly even more than the movie did, and it definitely elevated it to maybe my favorite of the year. Just wanted to express that I appreciate your hard work, thanks Art !
Okay, let me explain, it's about fairies entering Earth that formed their own realm and created this mystical land. Then some humans enter the fairy ring (In Irish mythology when you stay too long in the fairy realm, you start to physically change into a fairy.) One human was replaced by a changeling who is actually the prince of the fairy realm who chose the human's wife to be his princess. However, he can't officially marry her unless she becomes a fairy but he needs her to stay as a human temporary so she can give birth his baby in the human realm so that their child may rule both the human/fairy realm. The End.
You also missed the part about how the bear, the big BLACK bear, is an interpretation of how her affair with a man, who FORCES himself into other peoples lives, had also forced himself into the house. KABLOOOOSHHHH Mind blown. Ps - dude was scruffy, and hairy as well - watch it again.
Novo Vires Black Panther isn't made for low IQ. When they make Marvel movies they have deeper, spiritual meanings to it that most people can't begin to comprehend but at the same time they can pull in an audience and make money. for people with high IQs, they understand what the Black Panther movie is really about.
Stefan Kovacevic I compare Black Panther with Annihilation because they both speak about similar themes but with a different approach. Black Panther movie depicts the spirit totem or spirit guide that helps the king discover his true purpose when the astral plane is accessed by the subconscious and with Annihilation, they show access of the subconscious through the shimmer in order to find one's own true identity through self reflection, when one's ego meets the subconscious twin. Basically, with both of these movies, they depict what takes place within the mind's eye. The Annihilation movie is similar to The Sphere movie with Dustin Hoffman and Samuel Jackson in which The Sphere movie highlights the powers of the imagination through the mind's eye that the alien enhanced in the movie. The shimmer in Annihilation is just an enlarged version of the alien sphere in The Sphere movie. But all these movies, including Black Panther, are based on spiritual alchemy. A great book to look into is something called Jung and the Alchemical Imagination which explains the annihilation movie and it even has an Ouroboros on the cover of the book which is the same one that is shown in the movie. For the Black Panther movie, a great book to read to understand the totem or the spiritual ally is called Healing the Wounded God by Jeffrey Raff, a Jungian analyst. But in short, all these movies are about Carl Jung's individuation process for psychological evolution within the subconscious or third eye. These movies are very easy to understand if you ever practice deep meditation, astral projection or remote viewing. Most Hollywood movies, including Black Panther, have deep spiritual meanings even if they seem dumb on the surface. You just have to view these movies through the right eye and have a good knowledge base.
Watched a 1 hour video this morning about the Mandel-Brot set, having never heard of it in my life. To have it referenced again 14 hours later is mind blowing.
Why did they play the same song throughout the entire movie tho, that acoustic song, sometimes with lyrics sometimes with not, what the fuck did it mean !
I did not like this film. It seems like the mother! of the year thus far. It just didn’t do anything for me, other than the cool visuals. It seemed like even the filmmakers didn’t know what was going on, as the characters certainly didn’t. I also didn’t feel connected to the characters, and the world felt completely empty. I never got the feeling that this was a real world where these characters legitimately existed. I never got the impression that these characters ever existed outside of their screen time, and their exposition dumps of backstories didn’t seem to relate to them at all. 6/10
YES!!! I was thinking the same thing with the metaphor about marriage, but I couldn’t wrap my head around the actual alien at the end. It now makes so much more sense because of that
Awesome video! This is a minor part of your analysis, but it helped me to finally understand the eyeless Ventress at the end. Even though I've seen the movie a lot of times, I never understood until now that was an indication that it was her clone. Makes sense when you consider how Lena's clone looks right before it fully transformed into her appearance.
This is the first time I am seeing your face being a fan of LME for years and you look exactly as I imagined you would look like. Thank for all the awesome content.
I was waiting for this video. I absolutely love the movie and can’t wait for a second viewing that hopefully sheds more light on my interpretation. Also, random question, are you really in Grand Budapest and Spider-Man Homecoming? You’ve mentioned it a few times, and you do seem awfully familiar.
So is that why the psychologist only let people into the shimmer who were self destructive? She knew the only way to destroy it is to have it reflect the self destructive nature of the people you throw into it.
Brilliant analysis, man. Unfortunately in my viewing I wasnt following "conscious alien" route, I was watching this movie as a tale of looking for a knowledge. I saw Zone X as an area of research, and all of its manifestations as a results of trial and error path of a science. Lighthouse seemed to me as obvious metaphor for ultimate knowledge and all of the events of the final kinda confirmed my theory - people got what they wanted, alien in my perspective was just "a tech", which people can use as they want (therefore actions of mirror entity) and in the end they couldnt handle it, got scared, run away and burned all the bridges to it. But the shimmer in the end means that this experience wasnt futile and knowledge isnt lost and has a chance to be handled better in the future. I saw marriage thing, but thought of it rather as subplot, not a main line. Probably it was another mistake. I think you are right in everything - conscious alien (its obvious now, after you mentioned the house), evolve thing, self-destruction thing.
I thought every other analysis lacked that distinction between the actual plot (e.g. Alien) and allegory of the movie. You layed this out almost perfectly. Your insights of the first part was way deeper (alien plotting for Lina to come back which I didn't even think of) and I felt it's genius. Second part could've been a bit more elaborated/directed, I saw other analysis where some Budism ideas were taken as a comparison to help explain allegory clearer. All in all, amazing movie, gonna watch it second time. I appreciate people like you taking time and helping us to arrange our scrambled insights into more streamedlined understanding.
love this channel, but when you dive in deep to movies that i personally don't care for (it comes at night, cloverfield paradox, this movie) i'm honestly really impressed with the dedication, cause i usually blow off any of these supernatural white bread movies. keep it up.
What's your theory on this movie?
I would say that your theorie of the organism 'wanting' to evolve takes you back to the beginning of your video. It's a projection of we would want it to be. But i don't think that the organism follows a purpose. Evolution didn't follow a purpose, cancer doesn't follow a purpose. All these things just happen, and they happen on a very physical level.
The shimmer takes it a step further. It mixes the physical with the meta physical. It's not only survival of the fittest. It's survival of the ones who are willing enough to overcome their selfdestructive ways. Survival of the ones who are willing to live.
My theory is that this is your best video to date
The Thing made its own Adam and Eve. like the thing right. new version, nice touch
I disagree in a way with your take on the organism's purpose. After Lena confronted it, it was clear that this organism didn't have an ulterior motive, it didn't have an agenda or a grand scheme to take over Earth. There was no intention of harming or helping, it didn't even seemed like it was at all sentient, it only "mirrored" whatever data was fed to it, whether it was DNA, radio signals or whatever else. I think the best description is the one that they use in the movie, a "prism" of sorts, one that bonds, mutates and resonates with its surroundings. So I very much doubt the organism concocted a plot to make Lena use that grenade by "planting" that video recording in the lighthouse. In the end, it is clear that the original Lena survived (no way the organism survived that grenade+we see the shimmer vanish), albeit with her DNA structure modified and the Kane we see at the end it's definitely a clone that is still struggling to maintain a human form with its alien composition. However, when we see their irides glow in strange colors in the very last frames, I see that not as a sinister omen, but simply that it's recognizing its own nature in another organism and that it will continue to survive. I could be wrong though.
Just saw the movie for a second time... I think the themes of self-destruction and broken relationships fit in with the coworker the Biologist had an affair with. At the start of the movie (after she cuts their affair off) he invites her over for a barbecue with his family. At first viewing this seems like a nice gesture to help her out of her depression. Seeing it a second time, it's clear the guy is following through on his own pattern of self-destruction, inviting the woman he had an affair with to hang out with him and his wife, a subconscious effort to make everything blow up in his own face.
All I know is that as a huge fan of the novel, I'm glad the movie turned out as great as it did despite, or maybe even because, it did something different with the source material.
here's another idea: what if the shimmer just simply refracts, and so it starts off mixing dna of animals, rocks etc but it's essentially a harmless organism. Then humans send in the military who attack the unknown and self-destructive scientists and that mindset refracts throughout the shimmer making it into this new frightening place. Perhaps this film is about our self-destruction but also our tendency to react in destructive ways, particularly toward the environment.
Hmm, wow that's actually a really smart and different way of looking at this movie! And in truth, makes the most sense. I'm going to have to rewatch this movie now. Thanks 👍
that was my first idea and imho it was confirmed throughout the movie. maybe it's just a cosmic copy machine for bad copies, that can act as ignition for evolution
its about stones having DNA...
Wow I totally agree
Bravo
in some moments reminds me of Nietzche's quote:
"Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster... for when you gaze long into the abyss. The abyss gazes also into you."
Mark Bada-Bing Extra internet points for using the direct quote :D
Isn't google the best?
BIng is obviously superior
.. for porn :P
I feel like you post this as many places as possible
Funny how the movie is about Self-Destruction and Paramount pretty much Self-Destructed this movie by pulling it from theaters.
Probably should’ve released it in January
6 Months from now, any person wanting to see it, will have. Some pay, some go to theaters, some don't. Theater box office is FAR from the only success factor these days.
they pulled it? I just watched it last night. Well maybe I caught it right before they pulled it.
It's only available in Theaters in USA, and only in select theaters. I saw it on day one, but I had to drive to a distant theater to see it because the other two theaters I live by didn't play it.
even in Toronto , the main theater is not playing it , had to go to smaller cineplex to watch it .
One of my fave details is the color used to show the infidelity scene was blue. The blue moonlight lit the room While Portman cheated on her husband. Then notice she colored the BLUE ROOM into a white color. Signifying she’s cleaning her past. Mind blown.
Mike Marchant Nice catch! I loved how colors were done in The Neon Demon
Maybe this is why the lighthouse inside was white too?? Btw don't put it past Garland to give the movie that level of detail because that's exactly what he did with the also brilliant Ex Machina.
This Movie Was Good. Did She Really Cheat On Him ? Lmao i just saw it and im trippin
I noticed that th3 last time you sew Kane & Lena it's through a clear-ish isolation plastic which then transition to show through a blue, more obscure plastic.
This movie fucked with my brain and that's why I love it
Evan Acree EXACTLY
Fight club?
Evan Acree damn right and I'm loving it too
I wanna rewatch this because of this amazing analysis, but I am still scared as fuck of that scream bear and the Capri Sun alien. Anyone else feel the same way?
Me. Was screaming at my screen the whole time Natalie Portman was sticking her face into that shimmer organism and the bear creeped me tf out. honestly I find sci-fi/dystopian films scarier than horror films
lon242 I loved it I felt so at peace
I don't get why people are scared of this bear. It's literally just a bear, but with some visual effects applied to it and a different set of noises. It still poses same level of threat as a bear does, no more no less. The bear part is scary, the noise/cosmetic changes are meaningless.
Tagnar I don’t think it’s that cut and dry, humans are wired to be afraid of things we don’t understand, a human voice screaming out in fear and pain coming from the thing that caused it to do it in the first place is terrifying. Bears are powerful and also very scary. It’s hard to know why things creep us out.
Thinking about rewatching Annihilation
Recalling the bear scene
Not gonna rewatch Annihilation ¯\(°_o)/¯
I did not realize the house was a recreation of Lena's home. Oh Wow!
I recognized that it was her house, but thought maybe I crazy and was just looking too much into it. The movie really messed with my head while I was watching it. I only knew I was correct when movie reviewers mentioned it.
Jon Stewart. Now here is the mind blowing part. Maybe the house was not a recreation, but rather *the actual home* Lena was in. Remember when Kane 2.0 responded to the question on how he found her - "he saw her in a room and went in." That's exactly what happened at the beginning when he arrived and she was painting. The reason he went to Lena is that the "clone" was ordered by Kane 1.0 "go find Lena". So we know that it was Kane 2.0 aka the clone who found Lena - in other words *the shimmer went to Lena*.
metatech damn. Didn’t think of it that way. You have a point.
Jon Stewart haha I didn't notice it either
i've watched ton of reviews and explanations on this movie and none of them really sold me. this one did. by far my favorite explanation. thanks
The two of them are like the “Adam and Eve” of the shimmer
True!
Def implied !! Glad someone got this as well
Except we have to pay the price , survival of the fittest
A'shaela this was my exact thoughts on the movie before and still after watching this imagery filled movie
@@DerrBeezy Who's to say the Og Adam and eve didn't have that too. The meteor that killed the Dinos could've been like the Anahlation alien thing.
Why does the alien need to have a plan or want anything? Can we just accept that perhaps this organism is simply fulfilling nature of its being? Why do we always need motive.
I see that as fulfilling it’s nature.
We usually deal with physical organisms that expand and try to evolve - but this one goes into the subconscious so it evolves differently
The AtZ Show I just meant that I don't believe this alien is a sentient being with a grand master plan. I think the only consciousness present within it is from what it has absorbed (animals, humans). I view it essentially as a giant blender that remixes everything that comes in contact with it. But that's it.
That was exactly my take. That it was not even an "organism" but like a "field" kind of like a "magnetic field". Note when they enter the shimmer - that compasses spin around and the radios don't work!
I don't think The Shimmer's 'motive' or whether it has one at all is really the issue here, but unless its arrival on Earth is simply a random accident I think it's safe to assume there's some kind of internal logic to its existence. Thanks for a very insightful analysis btw, The AtZ Show! The best sci-fi always functions as a vessel in which to explore far more interesting and abstract concepts. I mean, sure, a straightforward showdown between humanity and an alien interloper is the literal interpretation. But then metaphor and allegory are infinitely more effective if they aren't glaringly obvious from the get-go.
Thank you for posting this! My boyfriend and I saw this at a preview screening and have been trying to wrack our brains to analyze it and come to a significant conclusion about what themes/messages we were left with. Your explanation, as always, is so clear, concise, and well-researched. We both truly appreciate your work!
A lovecraftian retelling of the story of Adam and eve which itself is a story of self destruction. In both tellings, seeking knowledge leads to destruction.
Jonathan Walden I thought of Lovecraft while I watched this movie, too. Not Adam and Eve, per se, but the movie definitely reminded me of his story about the meteor and the well and how it changed the landscape and the man who stayed there with his family. I listened to that story on Spotify at night and thankfully not in the dark. I don’t remember the name of it, off the top of my head, but the scenes are definitely similar regarding mutation, to an extent. Definitely “bad dream-ish.”
PrettyTigerlilly they made a 2020 film on Color out of space. Not bad, not bad at all
Considering the metaphor of marriage, can it then be said that Kane was literally "dying inside" when talking to lena for the first time since the affair?
Most definitely.
That would explain why Kane looked and acted like the one that was in the shimmer in the scene where leaves her. Why he had combed hair and was shaved. Whoa...
VinnyThePooh exactly my thoughts
Only women cheat. It's in their nature. It's how they evolved.
SKULL MAN men do too :)
I watched Annihilation and thought it was so stupid. Turns out I was the one who couldn't comprehend what the movie really was trying to say. Thanks for the breakdown.
Way to admit it lol
In the same boat my friend
Troy Mason Wow 🙄🙄🙄🙄 is there really such dumb people in the world? Omg I had no idea
Melissa Oliva
I was saying I didn't like the movie the first time I saw
it and then when I got others opinion on what it was about and then watched it again I grew to respect it.
It's still a bad movie if people don't like it when they first watch it. The general public won't care about the idea the movie is trying to display. If the story makes no sense and is very dry then it's a bad movie.
If you got every single visual and plot point the first time then good for you.
Troy Mason Relax Relax everybody the movie is very well explanatory, I am not judging you but it is pretty sad as a society that MUST people didn't understand anything about this movie. The same case goes to movies like lord of the rings in which MANY people say is "too complicated". They pulled this movie out of the theaters because it was "TOO INTELLECTUAL" for general audiences.
You also have to remember she kept explaining why she went in, in the first place because she “owed him”. She owed her husband. Truly powerful
Marriage can evolve into something beautiful, bring shared dreams, unified hopes
Or marriage can be a cancer and destroy the individual, your wildest dreams, your sole hopes
nooo the clone dosent want lena to go into the glimmer, that would mean that the alien life force that landed on earth had a purpose in why it landed there. It Found her because thats what the real kane wanted it to do, the clone was just a manifestation of its own self, no purpose as the glimmer itself. Just trying to adapt to its environment
Yup, the real Kane told his clone to go find Lena. Of course, at that point, his mind was, as he put it, " cut loose," so it's also possible that the shimmer influenced him to do that.
Dude I've always loved your videos. This made me love Annihilation so much more and it makes me want to see it again.
same
So, by drawing Lena into itself to eventually be destroyed while planting a piece of itself inside her, The Shimmer actually committed the greatest act of self-destruction in the film, yet still with the promise of rebirth.
I just watched the movie last night and I had trouble sleeping because my mind was racing since I kept trying to process all of it. Ive been watching reviews and explanations on YT all day and THANK YOU for finally making sense of things. Especially the metaphor about marriage. BRILLIANT. I think ill consider watching it a second time if the soundtrack doesn't haunt me too much lol.
Henrietta Lacks cells were not "practically" stolen. They were STOLEN outright without her knowledge nor her permission to replicate them. She thought they were trying to cure her and she suffered greatly during to time she had cervical cancer. I love your show.
INCREDIBLE video, man! I absolutely loved this film, and it will probably be in my top 5 at the end of the year. You really opened my mind to the marriage metaphor. One of my only flaws with the movie the first time I saw it was that the affair flashbacks and subplot felt kinda irrelevant to the story, but then I thought about it more and it shows why he leaves to go to the shimmer and it contributes to the marriage metaphor. I'm seeing it again tomorrow and I can't wait to see what more I pick up on.
Tyler K Agreed, I also didn't pick up the full metaphor. I picked up why the subplot was important though. Loved this film.
The score creeps the fuck out of me, the movie as a whole was frightening because it had me thinking about how self destructive I can be and how we have this trait go from our personalities to our very own cells. This movie blew my mind. People were definitely expecting something a little more straightforward and more about a monster though, saw a lot people getting up in the theatre.
It was really a hardcore movie. So did they get up when the bear monster came in, or just because they thought it was stupid?? Really this movie is going to become a classic.
Movie is about cancer/duality and the mathematical pattern that we perceive as good/evil. At least for me. It is about the fractal of life and what would happen if an alien cancer was introduced into the emotional cancer that is the self destruction of man. I think it is a commentary on destruction being creation and the overall positive/negative vibration that is life throughout eternity in our universe. Cancer destroys yet creates and if you survive it, it changes you forever; you become something different yet the same. THis is all delivered in the context of an alien organism of sorts (a cancer if you will) simply living and growing while destroying/creating and manipulating us while binding and mirroring us as well as binding us to everything we come into contact with. It is an organism that shows us these connections as they grow like a tumor, and this applies to time, space, emotion, dna, self... it is what would happen if time and our boundaries of reality became sick if you will and unraveled before us, revealing to the mind that we are all one connected organism.
I do not think the concept of marriage is a main point for me, but rather our emotional connections and the butterfly effect throughout time of our choices and how they impact eachother. How one choice in a partnership replicates throughout both individuals, like how a tumor grows. Her choices led to him going on the mission, which led to the shimmer getting out, which led to her being arrested, which led to her guilt over his state, which led to her feeling lost and going inside the shimmer, which led to them being back together only as different vessels.
Brilliant film no matter how you slice it.
well said man : )
michael ponder um no you are wrong completely
HAHAHA Okay Kenny... Do explain yourself if you think you are right. What good is your almighty wisdom if you simply relegate yourself to "...No, you are wrong"? Enlighten me, grand master. Are you saying the film that constantly speaks about cancer and the cellular division of cells within a tumor is NOT about cancer in a way? Are you saying that the film that openly discusses self destruction and has a finale with an alien that destroys itself is NOT about self destruction? What are you saying is wrong, guy?
Kenny left ;)
Everyone else: a summary of the movie
AtZ: an actual analysis
Cancer is definitely a theme in the movie. She tells her students in the beginning that they'll be studying cancer cells. The psychologist also has cancer which is what ends up swallowing her blood cell that makes her clone.
Stars Are Angels inning
Wheres the love button? I love this interpretation
4:20 I really like how they applied the Mandelbrot set. It's a beautiful metaphor that captures the theme of the movie. The Mandelbrot set is an example where infinite complexity can arise from simple rules. This mirrors the shimmer in that it works based on simple rules, refraction, but the result is complexity of endless possibilities.
Cool!
I was beyond confused over this entire movie. Your explanation definitely allowed me to understand some of these aspects more clearly. Very nicely done.
It's a great concept for a film. This is a must see on my Netflix list.
Marco Carmona if you still haven’t seen it you won’t be let down. It is mind bending. Although I hope you didn’t watch this vid before you see it. It’s best seen without these explanations beforehand
It's a must see in theater! It was made for the big screen. You will want to get the full experience which is limited at home.
Unless you have a home theater system. You won’t get the full experience. I’ve seen this movie twice already, and about to see it again in the theater. The ending scene alone is worth it.
Marco Carmona I knew it was about cancer or some disease just off the trailer it was so abstract it had to be
People that would rather watch something on Netflix rather than the big screen is why movies are dying
It is even in the title, "Annihilation." Something else I saw in the film, and it can sort of fit in to the theme of self destruction, was how Lovecraftian the film is. Think about it. The cause of everything is an alien whose origins and intentions are unknown. And like in all Lovecraft stories, the closer the characters get to the source of the problem, the more their sanity slips. And what is insanity if not self-destruction of the mind? Even the location it lands at on earth is a lighthouse near the ocean. And the ocean is very important in Lovecraftian lore, that's where Cthulhu sleeps. And even Lena staring into that void at the end reminded me a lot of characters being transfixed and losing their minds because of whatever Eldritch creature they've just encountered. My God I love this movie. So much to unpack, so much to read into, so many interpretations! It is hands down one of the best I've ever seen.
This video took annihilation from a 8/10 to a 11/10 for me. Seriously some of the most poignant metaphors ever in a film were explored
She's her OG self in the end, here's why. 100%. that 'spark' in the end in her eyes that was also in his, was just her new altered DNA and altered self replicating or reciprocating the love in the embrace with her partner. His eye spark was obviously the shimmers version of showing that affection, so therefore the altered parts inside of her from the shimmer experience reciprocated that in a way to 'communicate' with him/it/clone on his own 'language' in a way. To summarise, in the end she WAS her original self, and that spark was just her altered DNA reciprocating the compassion to the 'husband clone' in the context of its communicative language... which as we know from the whole damn move IS Shimmering light! lol.. mind blown. ;) who gets me?
Can you talk about the part where Lena said that she made it out alive of the shimmer because she had to? Opposed to the other girls that didn't have a reason to go back or something of that sort
This is going to get a lot of views. Nicely done.
Excellent analysis man. Multi layered. Love that you used the score from the film. I think Lena did use her self destructive mindset to destroy the shimmer at the end after they merged but I don't think it matters because it's ultimate goal was to get those two together. It doesn't need the shimmer anymore to evolve. And we have no idea what Lena is capable of now that her biology has been forever changed. And yes I agree that Lena was not duplicated at the end. Was waiting for this video.
yep, 100%. that 'spark' in the end in her eyes that was also in his, was just her new altered DNA and altered self replicating or reciprocating the love in the embrace with her partner. His eye spark was obviously the shimmers version of showing that affection, so therefore the altered parts inside of her from the shimmer experience reciprocated that in a way to 'communicate' with him/it/clone on his own 'language' in a way. To summarise, in the end she WAS her original self, and that spark was just her altered DNA reciprocating the compassion to the 'husband clone' in the context of its communicative language... which as we know from the whole damn move IS Shimmering light! lol.. mind blown. ;) who gets me?
One of the best ending theory I've seen for Annihilation ! I buy it all the way 😄
Nice job showing actors and director interwiews where they explaine their interpretation od the film.
Great video !
Thanks and congrats 👍
So People who actually try to accept it for what it is and don't have the strength to change it... Then the shimmer consumes you somehow one way or another and you die... Self-destruction... but for people who want to change and fix whatever the problem is in their life thats destroying them... the Shimmer will duplicate another version of you (that in some aspects is a 2.0 version of your previous self) so that you can endure and evolve into a better person... but your previous self is now annihilated... Real growth... Real Development... Hmmmmmm.... Genius!
Noice.
Personally I think it’s the original because we se her blending with the shimmer earlier in the movie. She is small part shimmer; clone Kane is small part human. Yin and Yang, baby.
Lmao he said basically what I said I should have finished the video before I commented.
Good points.
Great explain, I thought maybe she was a refraction of herself, but now I realize it was her but altered. It's like she and her husband were the new proverbial adam and eve of the future earth world.
Really thoughtful essay on one of my favorite films in recent memory. I watch the last 20 minutes or so regularly because it's like nothing I've ever seen on film, but it also conveys the struggle and acceptance of one's Shadow. Thank you for your insightful commentary.
Terrific video! I really enjoyed this movie and I'm still reeling from what it all meant to me! As always, your insight literally expands my mind to see the finer details while slowing pulling my hair out to my own annihilation... Okay that last part was so badly worded. LMAO! Either way, top tier work, Art!
randomly stumbled on your channel. best random click ever. great analysis, also "high-fructose dirt" almost gave me a coughing fit i was laughing so hard
Man, there's a good chance this is one of your best videos
Oh wow what an incredible analysis, I hope one day i will be able to figure out all the themes, details, symbolism from a movie like annihilation ! Great video !
You hit that nail right on the head. Keep it up!
I watched this movie and was looking for explanation clips. Watched 4 of them and yours is THE BEST. Thanks for sharing this !!!! Subscribed.
My interpretation (at least the last half) was humanity's initial reaction to "change'. When someone new comes a long asking new questions doing something different you've never heard sometimes you want to even dispose of that change and in the end change will happen no matter how hard you try to stop it.... it may sound kind of dumb. I'll just take your interpretation from now on LOL
ATZ at its best#!! I must admit, i just hit that bell! Ive watched 5 different videos, to try and piece this film! And this ending theory finally got me at peace!
As a marriage survivor, I can confirm that that it is indeed an annihilating, Lovecraftian cosmic horror.
This and the Nocturnal Animals Video are truly fantastic analyses! Keep it up!
Thank you! Such a beautiful explanation for this film. Ive been so disappointed with other reviews/explanations. Self-awarness is so so important. It doesn't mean that we will stop all self-destructive behaviors...since they're "impulses" (some are at least...nothing is black or white) but we can stop ourselves from doing them once we realize that toxic behavior. I.e cheating, smoking, eating crap... Find the root of why we do those things, heal, and go forward.
I loved this film so much and the Original Score! 💖🎶
That CSN song is one of my favorite! Loved hearing it over and over in the movie.
Portman said the clues are echoes. Things shown early might echo later in the movie. Look at lenas wedding ring. It switched hands the moment she wakes up in the camp. Her trigger finger also switched hands from her military photos.
A debate worthy theory is that the people Woking up in the camps are all clones. Clones don't seem to remember things and they don't remember much as they awake. The real crew has already mutated into something. The bear might be the real sheppard mutating as you can see human like skulls imprinted on the side of the bear's face. It pleads them to help her not mimicking the last words of its victim.
The doppelganger lena met on the lighthouse might not be the doppelganger. It might be the mutated lena. If you noticed her first reaction after catching fire was shocked and scared, then she went to her husbands burnt body and carasses him, out of anything else. Lenas so called doppelganger wears the wedding ring on the correct hand instead of the surviving lena.
In the ending as lena puts down the glass after she drinks you can see her hands image in the glass is inverted and mirrored. This movie emphasises on distorted or. Mirrored refractions.
Now the shimmers has found the absolute species to rule earth. As adaptations occur it finds the best host to adapt and survive in the environment and once they agreed humans makes the best hosts/clone to dominate earth (or to simply just evolve and breed in the surroundings as any mammals survival instinct), they stop the lengthy and energy draining shimmering process.
I assume you haven't read the books.
The reason why things are different and people have lost memories when waking up at the camp was because the psychologist was drugging them.
I've read several theories, and I just wanted to chime in and say I found yours to be very helpful and unique. Most have touched on themes of cancer and self destruction, but I really like how you went into depth on a marriage metaphor. Genuinely added another layer of depth to an already complex film.
Thank you for your great analysis of this under appreciated and multi-layered movie. Will definitively watch it again.
I came here expecting to find another review that had completely missed the depth of this film. I’m leaving a subscriber. This dude knows what’s up. This movie is about alien invasion, survival of the fittest, evolution/creation/big bang happening again, depression, self destruction, toxic masculinity, cancer...and I think there is more. I’m glad there are people smart enough to see the depth here.
Huh? Oh boy, ET, Star Child, Close Encounter... those are just the movies I thought up at the top of my head.… Having an alien that isn’t trying to destroy or take over is not even close to a new idea.
Paul...
i knew that when the scene where lena and "kaine 2.0" were touching hands behind the glass in one shot, that the movie would go on about how their relationship was distorted in a way and im so glad i was the only one who first saw that too. when watching i always like to think back to why certain things were filmed in a certain way because everything has some reasoning behind it
Do an in depth video discussing the devolution of the mainstream American audience. It's getting really bad now.
Static Truths Thanks, man!
Was the "mainsteam american audience" ever that good though? haha
No, but it used to be better than this.
ha do you want mainstream america to watch this? do you want to know what it truly means??
What's worse? Americans watching shitty American movies or the rest if the world watching shitty American movies?
this is probs the best review and analysis of this movie ive seen.most reviewers just skim whats shown at face value and the basic narrative whereas you've thought about this in depth and perspective. thank you
WTF!! okay im definitely seeing this movie again. awesome video!!
You are so good at what you Do AtZ. Never stop doing what you do bro
Brooooooooooooooooooo.
Thank you, I loved this
I had a lot of struggles pulling all the threads that I found in this movie together. I found a bunch of other interpretations but yours about the marriage hits home the most for me. Thanks for sharing.
Bravo, this theory is spot on i'd say!
I thought too that the 5 characters were also representations of the 5 stages of grief for death and dying. It’s just tying in with the symbolism of the Shimmer/alien force being the representation of ‘cancer’.
Wow! You never really addressed the unreliable narrator 🤦
Man u got me at that first half. Mind blown. Alex Garland is a theatrical genius.
Didn't know rocks could evolve
We wuz boulders before we wear rocks
The shimmer in the book was more genetics based whereas in the movie they went with a sort-of "it refracts fucking everything" basis for the shimmer
So rocks actually do evolve. But don't think of it as "evolve" but rather "change".
Then how do you explain The Rock?
PacifistBetaFish Could you explain to me that whole "refract with the radio waves" part?
Great movie analysis once again AtZ. I saw your analysis on Mother! and enjoyed your take compared to other popular commentators, so I came straight to your channel for this movie. Keep up the brilliant work :D
Those aren't flowers taking on human form. Those are humans that became flowers and kept their human dimensions. It's what was happening to Tessa Thompson's character.
Brandon Reed it’s both ways
1516yamilez it's not
Brandon Reed it is. They were talking about it in the reflection discussion. How all the dna was bouncing around and merging. The plant dna merged with the human dna that gives us our structure. It’s both ways.
Wow. I've been watching your vids for a while now, and I gotta say this is probably the best explained video I've ever seen for any movie, like you deserve all the props for this bro. This video blew me away possibly even more than the movie did, and it definitely elevated it to maybe my favorite of the year. Just wanted to express that I appreciate your hard work, thanks Art !
Okay, let me explain, it's about fairies entering Earth that formed their own realm and created this mystical land. Then some humans enter the fairy ring (In Irish mythology when you stay too long in the fairy realm, you start to physically change into a fairy.) One human was replaced by a changeling who is actually the prince of the fairy realm who chose the human's wife to be his princess. However, he can't officially marry her unless she becomes a fairy but he needs her to stay as a human temporary so she can give birth his baby in the human realm so that their child may rule both the human/fairy realm. The End.
just found your channel after searching for annihilation theories and your content is amazing! Thank you!
You also missed the part about how the bear, the big BLACK bear, is an interpretation of how her affair with a man, who FORCES himself into other peoples lives, had also forced himself into the house.
KABLOOOOSHHHH
Mind blown.
Ps - dude was scruffy, and hairy as well - watch it again.
I saw three reviews already, and yours was the most interesting.
Usually I don't like your videos.
However, this one was cathartic.
I needed some clarity on this movie, so thanks.
Glad I could help!
I love that you do these. I don't really have anyone to discuss movies like this with, so its a nice substitute.
So this movie is basically an alternative to doing high doses of mushrooms?
I've watched a lot of videos about this movie, and you are one of the few to actually offer some insight on the film. Thank you, and well done.
This analysis makes me appreciate it slightly more, but I didn’t get any of this from the film.
Great analysis, I like you clarify that there are many paths to interpret the film. Most analysis shovel their own point of view down to your throat.
SUCH A GREAT FILM, 100 TIMES BETTER THAN BORING BLACK PANTHER! I need more films like these!
HindiRapGuru Both films are incredibly overrated
BP made for low IQ....
HindiRapGuru I didn't see Black Panther or annihilation but annihilation sounds amazing.
Novo Vires Black Panther isn't made for low IQ. When they make Marvel movies they have deeper, spiritual meanings to it that most people can't begin to comprehend but at the same time they can pull in an audience and make money. for people with high IQs, they understand what the Black Panther movie is really about.
Stefan Kovacevic I compare Black Panther with Annihilation because they both speak about similar themes but with a different approach. Black Panther movie depicts the spirit totem or spirit guide that helps the king discover his true purpose when the astral plane is accessed by the subconscious and with Annihilation, they show access of the subconscious through the shimmer in order to find one's own true identity through self reflection, when one's ego meets the subconscious twin. Basically, with both of these movies, they depict what takes place within the mind's eye. The Annihilation movie is similar to The Sphere movie with Dustin Hoffman and Samuel Jackson in which The Sphere movie highlights the powers of the imagination through the mind's eye that the alien enhanced in the movie. The shimmer in Annihilation is just an enlarged version of the alien sphere in The Sphere movie. But all these movies, including Black Panther, are based on spiritual alchemy. A great book to look into is something called Jung and the Alchemical Imagination which explains the annihilation movie and it even has an Ouroboros on the cover of the book which is the same one that is shown in the movie. For the Black Panther movie, a great book to read to understand the totem or the spiritual ally is called Healing the Wounded God by Jeffrey Raff, a Jungian analyst. But in short, all these movies are about Carl Jung's individuation process for psychological evolution within the subconscious or third eye. These movies are very easy to understand if you ever practice deep meditation, astral projection or remote viewing. Most Hollywood movies, including Black Panther, have deep spiritual meanings even if they seem dumb on the surface. You just have to view these movies through the right eye and have a good knowledge base.
Watched a 1 hour video this morning about the Mandel-Brot set, having never heard of it in my life. To have it referenced again 14 hours later is mind blowing.
Why did they play the same song throughout the entire movie tho, that acoustic song, sometimes with lyrics sometimes with not, what the fuck did it mean !
J Alves This video actually brings it up towards the end. The lyrics at the end of the song when clone Kane finds Lena is the reason why it’s played.
Well done. Watched this again recently and this is by far the most thoughtful vid on the film I have encountered. Subbed.
I did not like this film. It seems like the mother! of the year thus far. It just didn’t do anything for me, other than the cool visuals. It seemed like even the filmmakers didn’t know what was going on, as the characters certainly didn’t. I also didn’t feel connected to the characters, and the world felt completely empty. I never got the feeling that this was a real world where these characters legitimately existed. I never got the impression that these characters ever existed outside of their screen time, and their exposition dumps of backstories didn’t seem to relate to them at all. 6/10
EPM 101 i never i never i never i never
In other words: Too much tell, not enough show, resulting in a lack of caring about the fictional world.
Also this film has literally nothing to do with the book.
Mother was so boring until the end.
EPM 101 i don’t care
YES!!! I was thinking the same thing with the metaphor about marriage, but I couldn’t wrap my head around the actual alien at the end. It now makes so much more sense because of that
Awesome video! This is a minor part of your analysis, but it helped me to finally understand the eyeless Ventress at the end. Even though I've seen the movie a lot of times, I never understood until now that was an indication that it was her clone. Makes sense when you consider how Lena's clone looks right before it fully transformed into her appearance.
Only youtuber that matters when it comes to movies. Keep it up bro, I love how passionate you are about this stuff!
This is the first time I am seeing your face being a fan of LME for years and you look exactly as I imagined you would look like. Thank for all the awesome content.
You killed that metaphor at the end man!!! Bravo 👏
One of the best film analyses I've seen in quite a long time. Good job and have a like. :)
I was waiting for this video. I absolutely love the movie and can’t wait for a second viewing that hopefully sheds more light on my interpretation. Also, random question, are you really in Grand Budapest and Spider-Man Homecoming? You’ve mentioned it a few times, and you do seem awfully familiar.
So is that why the psychologist only let people into the shimmer who were self destructive? She knew the only way to destroy it is to have it reflect the self destructive nature of the people you throw into it.
Brilliant analysis, man. Unfortunately in my viewing I wasnt following "conscious alien" route, I was watching this movie as a tale of looking for a knowledge. I saw Zone X as an area of research, and all of its manifestations as a results of trial and error path of a science. Lighthouse seemed to me as obvious metaphor for ultimate knowledge and all of the events of the final kinda confirmed my theory - people got what they wanted, alien in my perspective was just "a tech", which people can use as they want (therefore actions of mirror entity) and in the end they couldnt handle it, got scared, run away and burned all the bridges to it. But the shimmer in the end means that this experience wasnt futile and knowledge isnt lost and has a chance to be handled better in the future.
I saw marriage thing, but thought of it rather as subplot, not a main line. Probably it was another mistake. I think you are right in everything - conscious alien (its obvious now, after you mentioned the house), evolve thing, self-destruction thing.
I thought every other analysis lacked that distinction between the actual plot (e.g. Alien) and allegory of the movie. You layed this out almost perfectly.
Your insights of the first part was way deeper (alien plotting for Lina to come back which I didn't even think of) and I felt it's genius.
Second part could've been a bit more elaborated/directed, I saw other analysis where some Budism ideas were taken as a comparison to help explain allegory clearer.
All in all, amazing movie, gonna watch it second time. I appreciate people like you taking time and helping us to arrange our scrambled insights into more streamedlined understanding.
love this channel, but when you dive in deep to movies that i personally don't care for (it comes at night, cloverfield paradox, this movie) i'm honestly really impressed with the dedication, cause i usually blow off any of these supernatural white bread movies. keep it up.