Going to the movies has been changing so much in the past several years. People complain about the prices plus not everyone wants to deal with phones going off, talking, and loud wrappers being opened. Out of all those annoyances, people mostly complain about the prices. MoviePass is making great strides to getting people back in the theater, offering a movie a day for only $9.99 a month. Even if you don’t have MoviePass, you should still go witness Alex Garland’s Annihilation in theaters instead of waiting for it to hit Netflix in a few weeks.
Seeing a movie in theaters is the way it is meant to be seen. Period. When a film is produced, the intention is to be seen on a big screen in UHD and with supreme sound. Annihilation is slated to be in theaters for 2 weeks, then it will go straight to Netflix. Not only is this disappointing, but it is also insulting to what is a great film. It is understandable why Paramount is doing this, though. They had one of the worst financial years in their history in 2017. They took several risks that did not pay off. The sad reality is that people do not pay to see movies in theaters if they do not think they’re going to understand. The average audience likes to be mindlessly entertained with movies that posses all style and no substance. And even if there is a weird or interesting movie in theaters, they tend to say “I’ll wait till it’s on Netflix” instead of seeing it in cinemas.
Annihilation is meant to be seen in theaters not only because of the stunning visual effects, but also for the attention-grabbing score and concise direction. There needs to be more films released like this one that forces the audience to think long after the credits roll. Alex Garland had the brilliant Ex Machina back in 2014 that got him an Oscar Nomination for writing, and Annihilation is right up there with Ex Machina in terms of a near Sci-Fi masterpiece. It is just so frustrating to see how few people are actually seeing it in theaters, more than likely using the “I’ll wait till Netflix” mentality.
So many people say that “Hollywood isn’t original” or “There’s nothing but remakes nowadays.” Some of that is true in a way, but then when they are presented with something different like Annihilation, no one wants to go see it. It was the same with mother! in 2017; very original and spectacular film, but it barely made a profit at the box office — people didn’t wanna see it because it looked “different.” A lot of the critics enjoyed mother! as well, and they overall love Annihilation. It is currently sitting at an 80 Metascore and 89% on Rotten Tomatoes. Those statistics coupled with Garland’s previous film being so brilliant should be more than enough to get people in the theater. The message to movie goers out there is this: When you see a trailer and it looks different or odd, go see it. Take the chance. And if you choose not to, that’s fine. Just stop complaining about the lack of originality in Hollywood when every year several original films come out.