The Gothic Spaces of Annihilation.

I love a good adventure story into lands untold, from the thick, dense jungles of Conrad’s The Heart of Darkness, to the dangerous, prehistoric plateau of Conan-Doyle’s The Lost World. The former, being a dramatic tale of colonialism, where the European man invades a foreign land, infecting and influencing the land causing tremendous change. Annihilation is pretty much the opposite. Humans traversing a strange new world that has completely consumed their own, transforming it into a chillingly beautiful alien ecosystem.

Although it is obvious that we are watching a science fiction film, the elements of the Gothic are startlingly apparent. The Gothic genre has its roots as far back as the 1700’s with Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Ontaro, from that stemmed countless classic Gothic tales such as The Strange Case of Dr. Jeykll & Mr. Hyde and Dracula to name a couple. Although the genre at the time was saturated with ghastly tales of the supernatural, it did have a distinctive scientific influence whilst also containing “anxieties about racial and social degeneration, the threat of going native, and the invasion of Britain by demonic colonial forces” (Davison 222). It is this fear of the unknown, invasive force that saturates Annihilation, bringing it strongly into the realms of the Gothic.

Humans are not able to survive in Area X, they either never return, are killed by the mutated and vicious wildlife that now dominates the environment, or they go insane killing themselves and/or others. What is so interesting about Area X is that it is has remnants of a human world, with familiar landmarks, a small town with houses, a military base, yet they have been altered in a way that makes them seem so alien. What was once their domain has now turned against them and it is spreading, threatening to encompass the entire world. Area X can, therefore, be considered as a Gothic space.

 According to the Cambridge Companion to the Gothic, “a Gothic tale usually takes place in an antiquated, or seemingly antiquated space- be it a castle, a vast prison, a graveyard […] a primeval frontier or island. Within this space, or a combination of such spaces, are hidden some secrets from the past that haunt the characters, psychologically, physically” (2). Similarly, Annihilation presents Area X as a terrifying and formidable space that perhaps even effects people prior to even entering it. The film does not hesitate to show how the place can affect the mind, we see its towering oil-like walls from the complex, giving a sense of claustrophobia and dread, especially on the realisation that it is ever expanding.

We learn from the start that Lena’s (Natalie Portman) husband, Kane (Oscar Isaac) was on the previous expedition to Area X, and that he had returned a year later with no warning, appearing to me effected in some way by his ordeal. As the Lena’s team venture into X they come across a video camera which shows her husband slicing open the stomach of one of his team mates, to reveal that his organs are moving unnaturally. Now to begin with, Kane looks surprisingly calm about what he is about to do, as if it is completely normal; however, the recording distills an element of panic in the present team, they all think that their predecessors went completely mad. This horrific act of mutilation immediately transforms the environment into one of intrigue into one of terror and anticipation. What will happen to these women? Will they end up like the men on the expedition before them? This fear is also expressed in the team as they become increasingly nervous about what secrets Area X holds.

As it turns out, Area X is pretty lethal. With strange bear-like creatures roaming the space, human shaped graveyards and the ominous lighthouse. The animals, although having familiar forms, in the seem to have been transformed into otherworldly beings. The huge alligator, the first creature they come across is an albino and has layers of teeth akin to a shark, giving it an overall sense of otherness.  The nature that surrounds the team in Area X is altogether uncanny, it is familiar, whilst being ever so slightly different. This even occurs in the plant life, the flora is absolutely gorgeous, a mixture of species of plants that create awe inspiring colours. Even the fungus that has exploded out of the dead body from the previous expedition is hauntingly gorgeous, yet there is awareness that it is actually very dangerous; perhaps providing a hint of what will become of humanity when Area X expands throughout the whole of the Earth.

This threat of invasion is a common trope in Gothic narratives for example, Count Dracula wishes to spread vampirism throughout the UK, the whole world into blood sucking fiends. This invasion occurs first, through the death of humans, in which their bodies grow into fungi. The other two seem more complex. The first being through apparently turning into human shaped bushes that litter the remnants of a town. We see Josie (Tessa Thompson) weave pieces of twigs into her skin, disappearing around a corner and seemingly vanish into the mass of tree shaped people, apparently becoming one of them. These figures are entirely creepy, as they are in the human form, they look like an art installation, they look man made. On the realisation that they are not, they transform into an uncanny graveyard-esque motif. They are purposefully mimicking the human form, but why?

The second form of invasion occurs when Lena, on entering the lighthouse, journeys down into the tunnel formed by the initial crash site of the alien and is subsequently entranced by a mysterious mass. In doing so, it transforms into a metal, humanoid shape which proceeds to mimic her every movement. On eventually blowing it up, we see her escape its clutches. However, the final shot shows her embrace her husband and they both have altered irises, implying that they have been either replaced by, or transformed in some way by the alien. In Annihilation it is not overly clear what the motives of the being is. From the last few scenes it seems that the its motives are to completely transform the earth and replace its inhabitants one by one, firstly in an apparently subtle way by mimicking those who end up making it to the lighthouse and the other with the overall transformation of the landscape, obvious to the human eye.

It is perhaps the lighthouse which provides the most striking of Gothic images in the whole film. Gothic narratives usually have an imposing landmark, usually a castle, or grand house that is shrouded in mystery. The lighthouse is very much the dominant Gothic space in the film. It is the site of the initial ‘crash’, it is where Area X began to expand from. All expeditions are told to get to the lighthouse and explore to find the key to solving the mystery of why Area X has formed. But it is also the site of the most dangerous transformations, of Lena and Kane. Entering the lighthouse means being trapped and transformed by the being. Again, like in Dracula, those who enter are trapped with danger of being turned into something that is not human. This pillar provides a domineering symbol in the film, it is where everyone wants to get to, yet it has such a sinister presence.

Annihilation provides an uncanny environment that has such familiarity, paired with an overall sense of dread that makes it extremely effective as a Gothic work. The themes of an invasive force that is subtle and patient make it feel more frightening than rampaging aliens destroying well-known landmarks. It is a truly beautiful, intriguing, yet creepy film that will leave a mark on future works of science fiction.

By Siobhan Eardley

Works Referenced:

Conan-Doyle, Arthur. The Lost World. London: Penguin 2007. Print.

Clery, E.J. “The Genesis of Gothic Fiction.” The Cambridge Companion to the Gothic Fiction. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2002. 21-39. Print.

Davison, Carol Margaret. History of the Gothic: Gothic Literature 1764-1824. Wales: U of Wales Press, 2009. Web.

Stoker, Bram. Dracula. London: Penguin, 2003. Print.

Wells. H.G. The Time Machine. London: Harper Collins, 2017. Print.