First half is SPOILER FREE!! Annihilation is visually addictive, but hair-raising and creepy at the same time!! A cross between the artsy sci-fi film, Skin with Scarlott Johansen and John Carpenter’s, “The Thing.”  Alex Garland, a favorite "bankable" director and writer!  And  Natalie Portman, Tessa Thompson gave their usual stellar performances. Gina Rodriguez reminded me of Vasquez from the movie Aliens!  Oscar Isaac and Nathalie Portman were a great fits for their roles and for Alex!  I think they're all cut from the same creative cloth!  And that BEAR mutant, with a women's voice screaming out of it's throat!! Again, Creepy!!  Garland told , that his adaptation is based on just the first novel in the trilogy!  On Movies Sub-Reddit thread,  described the first book as "Creepypasta!"  Also loved the music - Ben Salisbury and (Jeff) Geoff Barrow put their foot in this score! I loved that deeply beautiful twisted melody you hear throughout the film!  In a interview on  Ben Salisbury says that melody comes from a longer segment of the score known as "The Alien."