…………………………………………………

Ranking Alex Garland Films

A book author turned film writer turned director, Alex Garland was once one of the most promising American directors until he changed genres and shifted focus for the worse. His SF movies are superb while his newer projects ranged from solid to downright bad. This is my ranking of all five Alex Garland movies that he’s made so far from truly abysmal to incredible.

5. Men

The worst Alex Garland movie has to be this steaming pile of garbage. As the title would suggest, this is such a toxic, sexist movie that pretty much reiterates all the horrendous talking point of feminists and SJWs about men with no nuance to their argument whatsoever. Men represents modern elevated horror at its absolute worst with its pseudo-intellectual gibberish and strange imagery that is more repulsive than ever really creepy. This was the first sign that Garland was turning for the worse and sadly he hasn’t recovered since.

4. Warfare

Warfare is Garland’s attempt at a war film and a very bad one at that. This movie had nothing to say about war and this was even more frustrating when it comes to the Iraq War given that this subject is ripe for political discourse. In its refusal to tackle these issues, the movie can be thought of as nationalistic and backwards. But the main issue here is its total lack of plot or explanations regarding this overly ambiguous mission. The lack of character development meant that I didn’t care for any of these people. It’s a non-movie that had no reason to exist.

3. Civil War

As is the case with the above entry, this one is also spineless. Imagine making a film about the current political landscape in America and not having anything deeper to say about it. This is the level of cowardice that we see in this frustratingly apolitical movie. Civil War still ended up being a solid feature due to its strong technical aspects, a terrific atmosphere and memorable action set pieces. It’s a well made, but misguided movie where Garland again showed us that he is a much better director than he is a writer.

2. Annihilation

The second SF movie that Garland made fittingly enough gets the second spot on this list. Superbly acted and so well adapted from its intriguing source material, Annihilation is not just very sophisticated, but also hugely cinematic. The film is also quite artistic thanks to the arresting visuals of The Shimmer, creepy, strange and fittingly otherworldly score and many fascinating metaphors and conversations. The highlights include the creature attack scene which is impressively unnerving and the ending which is of course admirably ambiguous and open for many different interpretations.

1. Ex Machina

And the number one Alex Garland movie has to be Ex Machina, which is one of the best science fiction films of the century so far. It has excellent effects and sound, a truly beautiful conclusion, some intense sequences, terrific directing from and it is filled with a plethora of really smart and thought-provoking themes wonderfully explored here, making it one of the smartest genre films in a while and an indicator of how phenomenal indie sci-fi can truly be. This was the best directed movie of its year and it remains one of the finest examples of truly original and thought-provoking hard SF. This was such a remarkable first effort that it’s a shame that Garland would only go downhill from this point onward.