Annihilation: A Thought-Provoking Sci-Fi Film!

"Ex Machina," written and directed by Alex Garland, was one of my favorite films of 2015.  "Annihilation," also written and directed by Garland, is his next film.  The movie is based on the 2014 novel of the same name by Jeff VanderMeer.  It has many of the good qualities that "Ex Machina" has, although I didn't like it as much.  It has a creative and interesting science fiction plot, a good ensemble cast, terrific special effects, and plenty of nail-biting suspense.  It's a movie you will think about after you leave the theater, with some interesting themes, including identity and death.  My two problems with it are that it was about 20 minutes too long (my generic complaint) and an ambiguous and confusing final fifteen minutes. The film opens with what appears to be a meteor striking a lighthouse. The next scene switches to Lena (Natalie Portman), a Cellular Biology Professor at Johns Hopkins.  Her husband, Kane (Oscar Isaac), went on a secret mission about a year ago and failed to return.  She is grieving, and her life is on hold.  Suddenly, Kane shows up at her residence, but he almost immediately vomits up blood and then goes into a coma.  Lena and Kane are subsequently taken to a top-secret government facility (Area X).  Apparently, after the meteor struck the lighthouse, a strange electro-magnetic field was created, now called "The Shimmer."  Several teams were sent out from Area X into "The Shimmer" zone, but there was only one survivor out of all of them, and he couldn't tell them anything useful. The Area X psychologist, Dr. Ventress (Jennifer Jason Leigh), interviews Lena, who agrees to join an all-female team, consisting of Dr. Ventriss, a physicist, an anthropologist, and a paramedic.  Their extremely-dangerous mission is to enter "The Shimmer" zone, get to the lighthouse, figure out what is going on, and then report back to Area X.  The whole planet may be in danger, since "The Shimmer" zone is continuously expanding. I can't say any more about the plot without spoiling the film, but the movie hits its stride once the five women enter "The Shimmer" zone, where all manner of amazing, beautiful, and terrifying things happen. The cinematography is spectacular, so the movie needs to be seen on the BS.  There aren't many good films out now, so I'd see this one soon before it's pulled from the theaters.  Apparently, Paramount had no idea how to promote it, so it "annihilated" its marketing efforts for the film.