Annihilation - Alex Garland Interview

Alex Garland in Toronto to present Annihilation at TIFF, Bell Lightbox

Alex Garland is a born writer. His first foray into the publishing world was when at the age of 26 he wrote the book, The Beach which Danny Boyle soon turned into a film starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

Boyle gave Garland another shot by having him write the screenplays for 28 Days Later and Sunshine. In 2015 Garland decided it was time to try his hand at directing and gave us the critically acclaimed sci-fi thriller Ex Machina which starred Alicia Vikander and Domnhall Gleason.

Natalie Portman in Annihilation

His latest film is Annihilation, based on Jeff VanderMeer’s best-selling novel centers around  a group of soldiers who enter an environmental disaster zone and only one soldier comes back out barely alive. In an attempt to save his life, his wife a biologist, along with for other female scientists volunteer for another expedition into the zone to figure out what happened to him. The film stars Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Oscar Isaac.

Early reaction to the film has been quite positive praising Garland's film as nothing short of a "sci-fi classic." 

I spoke with writer/director Alex Garland about Annihilation during a promotional stop in Toronto.

Annihilation  will open in theatres but will also be coming to Netflix. The groundbreaking deal between the streaming service and Paramount will see the film available to view 16 days after its international release in the US, Canada and China on 23 February.