Annihilation, A Film To Understand The Unknown
Imagine that one day another part of the world appears. So different that it does not correspond to anything known. A place that arouses admiration, respect and a pinch of fear at the same time. What would you do ? Would you invest it? Would you observe it from a safe distance? Alex Garland’s latest film Annihilation , starring Natalie Portman and Oscar Isaac, puts us in this situation, while also feeding our curiosity for the unknown.
The film, based on the novel of the same name by Jeff VanderMeer, offers us a different world. So a space in the world, for no apparent reason, takes a strange turn. After a meteorite crashes in a lighthouse, its environment begins to change. A kind of bubble, which gradually grows, generates a different world inside.
Start of film
The beginning of the film shows us a biologist named Lena (Natalie Portman) being interviewed by a man in NRBC gear. She is not sure what happened, but the interrogator confirms that she has been away for months and that her companions are missing. With this uncertain start, Annihilation introduces us to the world of the unknown and, indirectly, to the world of research.
The main plot revolves around Lena, a biology teacher, who teaches how cancer cells multiply. Her husband, Kane (Oscar Isaac), passed away a year ago. Kane was a soldier and went on a mission that Lena knew nothing about. Surprisingly, one day, Kane appears at the house. However, Kane doesn’t remember anything. She doesn’t know where she went or what she did. He only seems sick.
Zone X
Without trying to divulge the movie Annihilation , we focused on Zone X. Zone X is the name of the area that grows around the lighthouse. This strange new world from which no one has returned. Several missions took place in Zone X, but only one person was able to return. Can you imagine who? Yes, Kane, Lena’s husband. He is the only one who has returned, but he does not remember anything that happened while he was there.
Everyone who entered shared something, they were soldiers. People who were dedicated to security. However, this time the new team that is ready to enter Zone X is different. The team is made up of women ready to do research. Lena surrounds herself with four women ready to investigate what is going on inside Zone X. The women, experts in psychology, physics, geology, biology and medicine, embark on the adventure, in search of something to tell them what Zone X is.
Psychology in Annihilation
As you can understand, here we are going to stop talking about the history of the film. Our goal isn’t to reveal everything, so whoever wants to know the ins and outs of Zone X will have to see it. Even so, the point of this article is to see what the film’s relationship is to psychology and research, so there we are.
Zone X represents the unknown. In general, the unknown causes two reactions. On the one hand, it breeds fear. The fear of what we don’t know, of the uncertainty, of not knowing. This fear also comes from people, not just spaces. So, there are those who reject immigrants because they are afraid, because they do not know them and because they have a false image of them.
On the other hand, the unknown, sometimes, also generates attraction. Let’s call it interest or morbidity, because union with fear, something that is not known, that is considered exotic, can also bring about a rapprochement. In this way, Zone X is uncertainty, something unknown that causes fear and attraction. Therefore, the resulting behavior is twofold, that of exploring and investigating and that of being prepared for the worst. Hence the incursions of the military and, of course, researchers.
Research in Annihilation
As we have seen, the unknown requires investigation. Both by fear and attraction. The role of the five women who enter Zone X is that of researchers. If we look at each other’s expertise, we see that they are trying to understand Zone X to the fullest, in all of its forms. They want to study what Zone X is as much as they want to study what’s inside. Are they successful? To find out, you have to see the end of the film.
Therefore, Annihilation , among other things, puts us in a situation of uncertainty. The film places us in front of the unknown, arousing both fear and curiosity. It is therefore recommended to follow the film by watching this mixture and, of course, the discoveries made by this team of researchers.
Our thoughts Quantum computing is made possible by exploiting the infinitely small for data processing.
