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Published Jan 28, 2026, 6:33 PM EST
Craig began contributing to Screen Rant in 2016 and has been ranting ever since, mostly to himself in a darkened room. After previously writing for various outlets, Craig's focus turned to TV and film, where a steady upbringing of science fiction and comic books finally became useful. Craig has previously been published by sites such as Den of Geek.
Craig is an approved critic on Rotten Tomatoes.
Playing a major role in a Star Wars movie has a habit of defining an actor, at least within the confines of science fiction. The sheer cultural weight of George Lucas' galaxy far, far away is such that it's almost impossible to experience similar heights with another movie of that genre. Harrison Ford is the major exception, with Rick Deckard and Han Solo both iconic figures in film history.
An influential politician and Darth Vader's wife, Natalie Portman reshaped the very landscape of Star Wars as Padmé Amidala. Entering the franchise in 1999 as a relatively fresh face, Portman was mostly known for Léon: The Professional at that point, but went on to play Padmé across all three Star Wars prequels between 1999 and 2005.
Her career rocketed in the aftermath, albeit away from sci-fi. A smattering of iffy comedies aside, Portman became renowned for intense performances in the likes of Black Swan and V for Vendetta, before later joining the MCU as Jane Foster in three Thor entries. She would finally return to sci-fi in 2018, almost two decades after first donning Queen Amidala's massive wig, and her genre comeback blew the Star Wars prequels away.
Annihilation: The Natalie Portman Sci-Fi Movie That Outshone Star Wars
Paramount PicturesA core tenet of science fiction is expanding the borders of the viewer's reality - to stretch what's possible into areas only the imagination can conjure up. Annihilation achieves that as effectively as any sci-fi film released this century.
The visual depiction of the Shimmer and all the horrors contained within carries the same sense of wonder and intrigue as an alien planet, but by distorting the real world, it becomes infinitely more horrifying. From mutant bears to crazy plants, Annihilation is like peeking into the mind of a tripping biology teacher. Astoundingly unique, strangely beautiful, and deeply unsettling, scenes leap directly into the audience's retinas and sit there for days afterward.
But Annihilation is more than just a visual feast. Taking cues from movies like The Thing and The Matrix, there are familiar themes here: the group of paranoid scientists pushed to the edge of sanity by an alien force, the suspicion that an ally has been replaced by a doppelgänger, the philosophical debate over the definition of "real" and how much the term actually matters.
Annihilation's innards aren't quite as unique as its cinematography, but Natalie Portman's performance is the difference-maker. Portman doesn't just make you care about Lena, she gets viewers actively concerned about her. Propelled forward by a blend of grief and curiosity, Lena is easy to emphasize with, but never loses her streak of unpredictable, self-destructive danger, making for a compelling protagonist that breaks the usual sci-fi mold.
Without the range of emotions and subtle darkness Natalie Portman brings to Lena, Annihilation simply wouldn't work. The pretense would fall apart, and the emotional heart of the story would feel too distant to matter. It's Portman who glues the thing together, and the result is one of her best films in any genre.
For many years, Natalie Portman's main association with sci-fi was the woman who juggled the responsibilities of a senator working to avert all-out war with placating a sand-hating boyfriend prone to tantrums. Post-2018, the first images that spring to mind are now Lena leading her team of scientists into the unknown, and the chilling shot of her shimmering eyes from Annihilation's bleak ending.
Release Date February 23, 2018
Runtime 115 Minutes
English (US) ·