What are the implications of the movie’s final scenes—Lena’s dance/battle with the being that reflects her and her conversation with “Kane”? The slides address questions about destruction and transformation in the movie. The movie isn’t specific about Lena’s transformation in area X, but what do you see as one or two possible changes wrought by the experience? How is she a different character at the end of the film than at the beginning?
6 thoughts on “Annihilation–Group 4”
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My sincerest apologies for the late response. Between this class and Psycho, I keep mixing up what days/films we have a presentation for instead of a blog post. I was not a huge fan of the ending, I think the movie starts very strong; one thing I’ve learned from this class is how often a sci-fi piece begins super strong but ultimately meanders–painting itself into an anticlimactic corner. It’s easy to hook viewers/readers in with a science fiction reality or concept/premise that just pops from the get-go–but as the story goes on, it gets harder and harder to sustain that one great idea, or better yet, use it to say something substantial. That’s what I felt watching Annihilation; it’s a film made up of great ideas that are fascinating and nuanced on a surface level, but I gradually had greater and greater difficulty excavating substance underneath. Perhaps that’s because I’m not smart enough–which, trust me, the film certainly made me feel–or maybe the filmmakers are slightly at fault. It’s possible they didn’t know exactly what they were trying to say. On a visceral level though, I experienced a myriad of reactions. Everything from “Wow, that’s really cool,” to “That’s disgusting.” For reasons I cannot quite hone in on, I was deeply unsettled by the dance scene at the end. I found the design of the mirroring figure unnerving. Much like the entirety of the shimmer, it felt like there was some constant threat of violence–as if the figure could easily kill Lena whenever, but was simply choosing not to. It’s interesting at the end that Kane is the one who advances toward Lena–he hugs her and she reciprocates. Previously in the film, it has been Lena initiating towards a “Kane” that is deadening inside. In this last scene, now that she is the one who’s just returned from the shimmer, Kane offers her empathy–and a clinical semblance of warmth. The role is reversed from the beginning when Kane reappears.
I feel like I’m going to echo a lot of what is being said by my peers. What a bizarre, fascinating movie, but a bit of a confusing one as well. I have to agree with Elise in that it is difficult to identify what exactly makes the Shimmer bad. Yes, the mutant creations are physically threatening, and the re-creations of human forms are psychologically threatening, but the Shimmer itself doesn’t actively destroy life– it creates it. There is a strong emphasis on the division of cells and the biological process that is crucial to the development of Lena’s character (we see her explaining the process at Johns Hopkins early in the movie only to become subject to the process by the end of it). Perhaps it is the speed with which the Shimmer has the ability to undergo this process that makes it so awe-inspiring and threatening, but it ultimately is just a different form of life.
The final scene between “Kane” and “Lena” is interesting. I don’t think there is any ambiguity that it is the clone of Kane and the actual Lena, but the lack of response from Lena when Kane asks if it’s her suggests that she has changed in such a dramatic way in the Shimmer that she has perhaps lost a piece of her identity. I also think taking a step back and categorizing all the events that have happened to her (return of “Kane,” entering the Shimmer, watching the gruesome destruction) make it feel reasonable that one would feel insecure in their sense of self. I do think there is a hopefulness in the final embrace and the shimmering in the pupils of Kane and Lena suggest that they will be able to learn and emotionally adapt to each other and, as Natalie put it, “start fresh.”
I think that the transformation in Lena was a result of refraction of DNA as Josie hypothesized earlier in the film. In the shimmer when two beings interact genetic material is somehow exchanged causing both organisms to exhibit traits normally possessed by the other. This is evident in Cass’s voice being used by the Bear and Josie becoming a plant. With regards to the final scene I think that the clone in the lighthouse should be viewed as an extension of a larger being which, I believe is centered in the hole in the lighthouse. I’m not sure how but the being is a catalyst for everything that is happening in the shimmer and looks to absorb as many genes as possible. The scene with Dr. Ventress she is seemingly absorbed by this being. Lena and Kane however, manage to avoid full absorption by the being but, still exchange some genes with the being. The being has Lena’s ability to move in sync and Lena has its color changing properties in its eyes. At the end they finally come to the realization that they are both not who they once were, gaining a piece of the being and losing part of themselves. We are still left with no answer to where this being comes from or why the shimmer exists.
This was a fascinating movie. In all honesty, the ending I did not think was that great, and after going through the slides, you were able to put into words how I felt about the overall film being a confusing amalgamation of genres. The implication of the final scenes highlights the character’s emotional development, specifically with understanding her flashbacks. We learn that she is having an affair, and the flashbacks are almost a way of her growing and transforming, and as Chase said now, we understand why she probably thought Kane was leaving her. Additionally, she took on a more leading role as the film went on (in my opinion), and her confidence in her abilities and what she was tasked with doing became more apparent. Returning to one of the early conversations where Lena was asking why her husband went on a “suicide mission,” the response by the psychologist was that no one truly goes on suicide missions, but there are more so being self-destructive. This was an interesting analysis and was reflected in the final scene with the clone and with Kane. Both of them had to look at themselves face to face to get “rid of” or “kill off” certain parts of themselves. I am not sure if I agree with Chase saying that she is finally one with herself, but I do think both Lena and Kane can reunite and almost “start fresh.” But how can you start fresh after living through an experience like that? In the slides, you talked about Lomax, who said that the Shimmer was destroying the world, but in this context, I agree with you that Lena is seeing the Shimmer as being transformative and creating and bringing out the best and worst parts of humanity. The use of the beautiful flowers (shrubs?) and how the flowers and vines grew out of the other woman’s scars was miraculous; yet, these things didn’t start to happen until they all started to open up about their previous experiences and transformed from within.
At the end of the movie, Lena may not be a Shimmer creation, but she’s not entirely herself either. She was clearly changed by the experience in profound and largely inexplicable ways. It’s not clear, though, how completely she’s been affected, or what it means for the world. The interesting thing about the shimmer is that it reflects the core struggles of intruders like Lena. In doing battle with her duplicate, I think her internal conflicts are made literal.
We see through a series of flashbacks delivered as Lena gets deeper into the Shimmer that Lena has cheated on her husband. Lena ends her affair with her colleague, and if we go back to the first scenes that show Lena grieving for her husband’s disappearance, we realize that she probably isn’t grieving for his death, but instead for him having left her.
When the Lena-clone is created, Lena begins her final battle with herself too. She doesn’t know how to handle this other part of herself. Her journey through the Shimmer is her search for absolution, and when she faces herself in the lighthouse, she has a choice to make. She wants to run from herself, to escape herself, to escape her guilt without paying for it. She wants to resist it and deny that it is part of her and her fault. I would argue that these clones are not clones. I would argue that in a thematic sense, they literally are the people that they mimic.
Lena realizes that she needs to destroy a part of herself in the same way that Kane kills a part of himself. It doesn’t matter if the clone or the ‘original’ is killed, the death is a part of their self that needs to be purged for their absolution. And when we see Kane and Lena finally reunite at the end of the movie, we see the Shimmer in their eyes. The Shimmer doesn’t clone people, it breaks them down and forces them to deal with their notion of self. Perhaps by the end of the movie she finally becomes one with herself.
What a wicked movie. We understand that in the Shimmer, parts of certain organisms can be “refracted” onto others, such that alligators can take on shark characteristics, plants take on human, etc. In the scene with Lena’s clone, we see some of that refraction physically, when the clone literally takes on Lena’s appearance, but it seems like the clone’s transformation is a little bit different (then again, this is the only transformation we actually see on screen). While Lena is passed out, the clone observes her and tries to mirror her positioning. Once Lena wakes up, she’s actually able to run away briefly from her clone, since the clone hasn’t fully adapted to her movements. The second time Lena passes out, their faces are positioned away from each other, yet the clone is able to move perfectly in sync with Lena. I took this progression to be some sort of learning by the clone. This process somehow makes it seem less threatening, not something that intends to dominate and destroy, but something that strives to learn and maybe empathize with others.
Before the clone crawls back into the hole in the lighthouse, it seems to caress Kane’s corpse, indicating that it potentially took on not just Lena’s appearance, but her emotions as well. This affection has certain implications for the final scene with “Kane” and “Lena.” They may not be the original versions of themselves, but it is not totally clear that the versions that they are now are worse (or better). Kane is certainly weird when he returns from Area X, but perhaps this is just a part of the learning curve. While the Shimmer is portrayed as antagonistic throughout the film, I find it difficult to define what makes it bad.