10 Body Horror Movies That'll Make You Squirm

With his mini-series Devs hot off the press, and Ex Machina still fresh in our collective memory, Alex Garland is the sci-fi writer/director of the moment.

But in Annihilation, Garland mixes his classic sci-fi style with horror to create some of the most disturbing cinematic images of 2018.

The theme of Annihilation is self-destruction. The horror that comes from our minds and cells working against us. The mind acting as a self-saboteur links each character in the story together as they force themselves into a suicide mission. The role of our biology in self destruction is shown to us via this film’s unique body horror.

As a creature enters the Shimmer, its cells begin to mutate, and merge with that of other lifeforms around it. We see this in the form of some deadly flora and fauna (that bear) but it’s nothing compared to the disturbing effects that humans have undergone.

The fear comes from the random nature of the mutations. The abject horror of not knowing whether you will transform into a beautiful flower display, or whether your guts will begin to wriggle around like eels in a barrel.

Most sickening of all is when the characters see the mutations occur before their very eyes. As Lena inspects a drop of blood from her finger under a microscope, she sees the cells have started to shimmer – multiplying into more and more abhorrent cells ready to take over her biology.

That’s all terrifying – but the scariest bit is still the bear.