way, suggesting that the entire experience has left both of them changed forever.

The notable element throughout each of the multitudinous themes and analogies in Annihilation is the concept of agency. Each character has it, until some of them don’t. The teams volunteer to go into The Shimmer, but once inside, they are powerless to stop the basic effect of cellular scrambling. Still, the thing this team of five women struggle with most is how they respond to that stress – which is, in itself, an expression of agency.

Ventress investigates it, Lena tries to fight it, Radek embraces it, and Thorensen refuses to acknowledge it. There is no judgement alluded to with regard to any of those responses – only curiosity as to how it effects the way in which the story pans out. It is Ca...

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