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Annihilation: How to watch Alex Garland's sci-fi horror 'masterpiece' in the UK

It's now available to stream on the streaming service in the UK

Jacob Stolworthy
Monday 12 March 2018 12:30 GMT
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Annihilation - Teaser Trailer

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The word on new film Annihilation - now available to stream on Netflix in the UK - is extremely positive

Concerns were sparked following the news that the Paramount Pictures film - from Ex Machina director Alex Garland - was to bypass an international cinema release for a streaming service launch in countries outside of the US.

Breathe your sighs of relief - the first reactions praised Garland's film as nothing short of a “sci-fi classic.”


Even The Last Jedi filmmaker Rian Johnson loves it...


Annihilation - an adaptation of the first book in Jeff Vandermeer's Southern Reach trilogy - stars Natalie Portman as a biologist who volunteers for a secret mission into alien territory of which previous attempts to explore met with disastrous results. The film also stars Tessa Thompson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez and Oscar Isaac.

IndieWire critic Zack Sharf described the film as "another auteur studio gamble" akin to Darren Aronosfky's mother!.

The groundbreaking deal between the streaming service and Paramount sees the film available to view on Netflix 16 days after it was released international release in the US, Canada and China.

Deadline reports that the decision was inspired by the release of Garland's critically-acclaimed directorial debut Ex Machina which grossed just $11.4m internationally - debuting on Netflix potentially means Annihilation will be seen by a far larger audience than it would had it been released in cinemas.

Garland's previous writing credits include the cult 90s novel The Beach as well as the screenplays for 28 Days Later..., Never Let Me Go and Dredd.

Annihilation is available to stream now.

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