Deceptively simple and truly frightening, Jennifer Kent’s debut film is already a cult horror classic. Soon both are consumed with fear and paranoia that the book’s goulish protagonist is very real-and drawing closer and closer. A single mother, at her wits’ end caring for her difficult young son, makes the mistake of reading him a deeply sinister storybook that mysteriously appears on the shelf. Though it is arguably responsible for the recent spate of horrors using painful family circumstances as the both the setting and the source of menace, few films since have quite managed to balance visceral terror and nuanced storytelling like 2014 Aussie chiller The Babadook. What follows is at once body horror, social satire, sci-fi, and pitch-black comedy. No explanation is given except instructions emanating from the TV to “await further instructions”. ![]() Following a highly dysfunctional family as they reunite for Christmas dinner, the festivities are interrupted when the entire house is encased in an impenetrable black substance. Based on the novel of the same name by Jeff VanderMeer and with strong similarities to Andrej Tarkovsky’s Stalker, Annihilation is beautiful, buzzy and one of Garland’s best.Ĭrazed as it may be to recommend a Christmas movie in July, it would be remiss to leave the crazy, camp and vaguely Cronenbergian Await Further Instructions off this list. The story of a group of all-female military scientists embarking on an expedition to the mysterious and highly dangerous Area X, Annihilation isn’t your typical horror-but with its haunting atmosphere, eerie, unnerving imagery and amazing ensemble cast (Natalie Portman, Oscar Isaac and Jennifer Jason Leigh all star), Alex Garland’s sophomore outing as a director is a chilling addition to the genre.
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