What led me to making this post were practically identical endings to both Annihilation, one of this year's finest movies and Steven Soderbergh's underappreciated Solaris. Both films end with the mysterious forces that's being investigated by the protagonists taking a hold of them but curiously through that granting them happiness with Chris embracing his wife and Lena, now with the alien force inside her, embracing the clone of her husband.
Both films deal with protagonists who have difficult love life - Chris's wife Rheya is suicidal, Lena has cheated on her husband Kane. This haunts them as they explore the strange new environment that somehow uses that information to get to them - with Solaris recreating Rheya and mysterious force duplicating Kane. Both protagonists are surrounded by people who one by one perish, leaving them alone in the end.
Curiously, the most memorable thing about both films is the hypnotic, atmospheric soundtrack.
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Great post! I'm an idiot and watched Annihilation at home and missed the first 30-40 minutes of it. Def need to revisit, because the ending was something else.
ReplyDeleteYeah you do, one of this year's best films!
DeleteAwesome parallels! I haven't seen Solaris but Annihilation was really underrated this year.
ReplyDeleteYou should check out Solaris, it's really good!
DeleteI've never see Solaris but Annihilation is still hanging out in my Top 10 for the year!
ReplyDeleteYous should check out Solaris, it's very slow paced but it's good!
DeleteI haven't seen Solaris, but those last two shots in parallel with Annihilation - wow.
ReplyDeleteYeah that ending is what made me look for more parallels here!
DeleteAwesome comparisons. So, so cool.
ReplyDeleteThank you! :)
Deletealways love these comparisons, appreciate the work you put into these!
ReplyDeleteThank you! ^^
DeleteShocking no one, I haven't seen either of these. Also unsurprising? How awesome this post is.
ReplyDeleteYou should really see at least Annihilation :)
DeleteI now really want to see Solaris. And it's great to see these parallel posts popping up every now and then! LOVE THEM!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! Inspiration doesn't strike me often but when it does I do my best with them :)
DeleteFuck yeah Visual Parallels! LOVE this. I'm such a huge admirer of Soderbergh's Solaris, and the parallels you chose for Annihilation are spot on. Great job!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! :)
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