I had mixed feelings about this movie since I read all three of Vandermeer's novels before I went to see this.
I enjoyed the books far more, but I've realized that the movie was well-done despite its deviations.
One thing that the book and movie do have in common is that they leave the reader/viewer to come up with theories on why and how Area X came to be in the first place and what the motivation was from the extraterrestrials.
I've read some interesting theories about it, but nevertheless, it's fun to consider all of the possibilities.
I'm with you, though, I do enjoy movies like this, and I'm also a fan of Arrival, so hopefully we'll see more movies like this in the future.
Thanks for sharing.
Yep I realized the movie deviate quite a bit from the books, in fact the movie is completely close-ended leaving little to no possibility for any sequels. The title "Annihilation" also has different meanings in both mediums.
Best to just enjoy this as a standalone film, which IMHO is a good movie in it's own right.