Alex Garlandhas without a doubt shaped what is considered original science fiction in the 21st Century.
Your opinion on each individual project may vary, but Garlands writing never fails to start a conversation.
As an ideas guy, Garland is both a classicalist and an innovator.
However, hes the throw in of writer who takes big swings, which should be celebrated regardless.
Here is every project developed by Garland, ranked worst to best.
Its an effective potboiler, but Garland fails to give his central character any defining traits beyond trauma.
Image via A24
Its admirable that he wanted to tackle toxic masculinity head-on.
However, treating your characters like thematic totem poles isnt the way to do it.
The Beach
The Beachis one of the weirder films inspired by Garland.
Image via 20th Century Fox
While entirely watchable,The Beachdoes contain what is perhaps DiCaprios worst performance ever.
However, Garland is incredibly smart with how he chooses to adapt the source material.
Dredd (Karl Urban) is a straightforward guy in a crooked world.
Devs
Devsis arguably Garlands most ambitious project.
We also seea lotof other stuff.
Annihilation
The last third ofAnnihilationis perhaps the best thing that Garland has ever done.
Its a thoroughly weird, metatextual dissection of how nature goes through the cycles of life and death.
Without hyperbole, its one of the most astounding science fiction movie endings since2001: A Space Odyssey.
Its unclear how much studio meddling there was.
Image via Paramount Pictures
Sunshine
Big, bold, emotional, exciting, and messy; basically,Sunshineis a Danny Boyle movie.
Its also one of Garlands best-written films, based on dialogue.
Never Let Me Go
Never Let Me Gois a great novel adapted by a great writer.
Garland latches on to themes of mortality but attacks them through the premise of a coming-of-age love story.
Garland doesnt make the romance feel melodramatic and is clever with how he depicts world building.
Instead of expository dumps, he introduces the macro through the micro.
Image via 20th Century Studios
Its easily his most emotionally devastating work to date.
Each of the leads is a unique spin on a familiar archetype.
Caleb Smith (Domhnall Gleeson) is a hapless working man, who is literally plucked at random.
Nathan is a weird Silicon Valley titan funding his strange fantasies.
Too much of the film feels predictive now.
We see snippets of what one experience looks like.
Image via Fox Searchlight
Its the best blend of emotion and concept in Garlands entire filmography.
