Natalie Portman Travels To A Strange Land In Annihilation Trailer

The newest trailer for Alex Garland's Annihilation is here, and it will blow your mind. The movie stars Natalie Portman as a biologist who joins a mission to explore an environmental disaster zone after her husband (Oscar Isaac) disappears.

Joining Portman's biologist on this mission are a psychologist (Jennifer Jason Leigh), an anthropologist (Gina Rodriguez), a linguist (Tuva Novotny), and a surveyor (Tessa Thompson). As the trailer shows, Leigh's character is somehow connected to the mysterious events, bringing Portman's character into the fold by telling her that it was her husband's decision to go into "the shimmer," a glimmering barrier separating a piece of jungle from the regular world. "We sent in drones and teams of people, but nothing came back," Leigh says. "Well something has," replies Portman, referring to Isaac.

Portman's biologist previously served in the military, so she has the skills to go into the shimmer, where she thinks she might find the answers that would save her husband's life. "The boundary is getting bigger," Leigh warns. "It's expanding. We're talking cities, states." Portman shoots back: "You need to know what's inside. So do I." 

The team's mission launches, with early discoveries including colorful deer-like creatures, broken compasses, and plants that appear to be stuck in a "continuous mutation." We also get to see what Garland has termed their "first tangible encounter with something strange" when the team meets an unusual alligator that appears to have shark teeth. "It's not possible," Portman says. "You can't crossbreed different species." 

As they soon discover, the soldiers who were on the last expedition "went crazy, or something in here killed them." As the team gets further and further into the terrifying wilderness, things get more and more wild. The trailer ends with an ominous warning. "It's destroying everything," Leigh says. "It's not destroying," Portman replies. "It's making something new." 

Annihilation is based on the 2014 novel of the same name from Jeff VanderMeer. The movie has a Feb. 23, 2018 release date.