Annihilation came with great credentials. It’s jam-packed with great actors; it’s based on a brilliant, award-winning novel by Jeff VanderMeer; and it is directed by Alex Garland, the mastermind behind indie breakout Ex Machina. And yet, despite being arguably beautiful, this movie fails on multiple levels. Incoherent, implausible, and often downright embarrassing, it verges on self-parody.

What’s frustrating about Annihilation is that the acting is superb, and the concept design is mostly gorgeous. Immersed in the film’s macabre, trippy landscapes, it’s easy to get lost in the imagery and forget that the plot has fallen to pieces until about halfway through the story.