Alex Garland is one of the most important voices in the sci-fi genre. He first gained fame as a novelist with The Beach which was adapted into a film starring Leonardo DiCaprio. His distinctive style led him to become a film writer in Hollywood where he formed a very successful collaboration with director Danny Boyle in films like 28 Days Later, Sunshine, and Never Let Me Go.
Garland seamlessly segued into direction and helmed many critically acclaimed films that further proved that he was a master at the sci-fi genre. His latest film Civil War which is set to release on April 12th, already received a stupendous reception at South By Southwest. The director’s films though, have not always been comprehended by all audiences. For these viewers, here are three underrated Garland masterpieces that embody his unique nuances.
Three Alex Garland Films That Deserve A Viewing Before Civil War
1. Ex- Machina
Few filmmakers are fortunate enough to see their debut films receiving massive praise. Alex Garland achieved this with 2014’s Ex-Machina which was his first film as a director. The narrative which deals with a computer analyst caught in the web of AI after he becomes part of a scientific experiment, is even more relevant in the context of the world today.
Through the film, Garland also challenged viewers with various queries involving humans and machines by recreating the famous Turing Test on screen. The psychological thriller impressed critics and also earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay for the filmmaker.
More significantly, Garland managed to create a marvelous visual world that earned the film an Oscar for Best Visual Effects. According to a report in Collider, the Men filmmaker was inspired by pioneering producer George Lucas’ THX-1138 which dealt with similar themes way back in 1971.
2. Men
Alex Garland’s 2022 film Men was one of the director’s most challenging and difficult projects to execute. To begin with, the filmmaker was experimenting with the sci-fi genre by bringing aspects of folk horror into the narrative.
The story follows a widowed woman played by Jessie Buckley who is haunted by visions of strange men who are all versions of one man played by Rory Kinnear. While the screenplay worked for a lot of people, there were also criticisms about certain themes in the film and the manner in which they were dealt with according to Collider.
As a result, many profound aspects that Garland was attempting to get across were definitely not mainstream, and therefore did not hit front and center. But the director’s thought process and vision for the narrative earned him and the film a lot of praise from discerning fans and critics.
3. Annihilation
In 2018’s Annihilation, Alex Garland proved beyond doubt that he had a firm grip on the sci-fi genre in a way that none of his other contemporaries did. This Natalie Portman starrer follows a group of scientists who enter a mysterious zone with an alien presence that causes plants and animals to mutate.
This film saw Garland going deeper into the emotional aspects of human nature like loss and grief along with his trademark mastery of the visual medium. A report in Collider stated that the Ex-Machina filmmaker drew inspiration from modern masters like Stanley Kubrick and Andrew Tarkovsky through their respective works namely 2001: A Space Odyssey and Stalker.
Annihilation showcased Garland’s prowess as a writer and his flair for visualizing a narrative in his own unique way. The film worked even with audiences who were generally wary of the director’s complex thoughts as they related to the various human emotions that defined the story.
Ex-Machina is streaming on Max.
Men is streaming on Paramount+
Annihilation is streaming on Apple TV.
