10 Sci-Fi Movies One Step From Perfection

10. Annihilation's Pointless Infidelity Sub-Plot

We’re well aware that calling 2018’s Annihilation anything other than an instant classic will result in some furious debates, but there is an issue with The Beach scribe Alex Garland’s sci-fi horror adaptation of Jeff VanderMeer’s novel of the same name, and like the helmer’s earlier Ex Machina, we refuse to avoid criticizing the flick just because it’s so close to perfection.

Okay so admittedly half of our staff here at WhatCulture HQ love the bleak ending of Ex Machina. But that half are, unfortunately, objectively wrong.

Early on in the moody, esoteric sci-fi thriller, we’re given glimpses of what seems to be a flashback to our protagonist’s affair during her marriage to soldier husband Oscar Isaacs. The plot hole isn’t the lack of explanation as to why anyone would cheat on Isaacs, though that’s also a fair question—he was Lewellyn Davis, no one would miss their chance.

No, the problem is—why does this subplot exist? It’s generous to call it a “subplot”, given that the momentary flashes don’t serve to flesh out the protagonist’s character, nor do they deepen the story or change its outcome. We’d understand if Portman’s heroine was plagued with guilt, but she seems to have forgotten any infidelity has happened—just like most of the movie has.