Annihilation (DVD)

K (out of four) Starring Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Oscar Isaac, Gina Rodriguez, Tuva Novotny and Tessa Thompson. Written/directed by Alex Garland. Out May 29 on DVD. 115 minutes. 14A

The glowing entity in Alex Garland’s sci-fi thriller Annihi

lation is aptly called “the Shimmer,” but that doesn’t explain how the image — and this arresting movie — enters the mind. Writer/director Garland ( Ex

Machina) took on quite the challenge in adapting the first novel of author Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach trilogy, an account of female scientists venturing into a disaster zone. Garland provides movie watchers with more signposts than VanderMeer did, but not that many.

The filmmaker frames the story with the clinical debriefing of the clearly rattled Lena (Natalie Portman), a biologist and former soldier. She has returned from a mission deep into Area X, an expanding environmental menace along the Florida coastline (denoted by the Shimmer) that mutates plants and animals — and human minds.

Lena relives an Area X trek she made in the company of four other tough and taciturn scientists: psychologist/team leader Dr. Ventress (Jennifer Jason Leigh), physicist Josie (Tessa Thompson), paramedic Anya (Gina Rodriguez) and anthropologist Cass (Tuva Novotny).

It’s storytelling that feels like a stalking.

Extras include several making-of featurettes.