By GRACE DETWILER
At the heart of every cosmic horror film, is one central conceit: ‘There is something out there that is bigger than us.’ Whether a higher power, an alien visitor, or an inexplicable natural phenomenon, cosmic horrors confront us with our smallness, our frailty, and our helplessness. The same can be said of two films from the late 2010s, whose protagonists must choose whether to resist or surrender to cosmic horrors beyond their comprehension. In Benson & Moorhead’s THE ENDLESS, two brothers revisit the ‘UFO Death Cult’ they escaped as teenagers, and are confronted with a devastating choice at the hands of a monstrous deity. In Alex Garland’s ANNIHILATION, a group of women scientists venture into a wilderness infected by an alien force, one that threatens to infect them as well. In both, a question is asked. When face to face with an all-powerful cosmic authority, who submits, and who fights like hell to retain their autonomy? If God is not good, do you still bow down?
Cosmic horror stems from the Gothic branch of the Romantic literary movement, which influenced the later workings of H.P Lovecraft, to whom the invention of cosmic horror is often attributed. However, themes of unknowable horror go back even further, to the origins of ‘the sublime’ in the Romantic era. The sublime is a feeling of awe and overwhelm that accompanies experiences beyond the normal or usual. Classically, the sublime was most often experienced in the natural world. The terrifying expanse of the sea or the sky would evoke the same devastating yet inspiring emotions. Human reckoning with experience of the sublime is what connects cosmic horror to eco-horror more generally. Our fears about the natural world extend beyond our own world, and into the ‘super’-natural world.
Can you have power over yourself if you give up any amount of authority to something else? – Hal, THE ENDLESS
In THE ENDLESS, a decade after Justin took his younger brother Aaron and fled from Camp Arcadia, Aaron wants to visit the cult that took them in as children, after their mother was killed in a car accident. Aaron resents Justin for taking him away from a comfortable life at the camp, and into the real world, where the two must work menial jobs to survive. When they arrive, they are seemingly welcomed back with open arms. Everyone at Camp Arcadia is happy, healthy, and looks no older than they were when the brothers were last there. What’s more, no one must partake in labor they dislike; instead, everyone spends their days consumed with hobbies that reflect their true passions.
But things are strange at Camp Arcadia. Two moons fill the night sky – ‘an atmospheric mirroring effect.’ The cult members have odd backstories, mental disorders, and various traumas. Further, they commune with a mysterious force that lurks above and around them in the surrounding woods. After Justin and Aaron have their own encounter with the deity, they come to very different conclusions about what to do next. While Justin wants to return to their normal lives, Aaron decides he wants to stay at Camp Arcadia permanently. After Justin has an explosive argument with Arcadia’s apparent leader, he ventures into the wilderness on his own, through the invisible boundaries demarcated by geological protrusions from the earth.
THE ENDLESS soon reveals a cosmic sentience that captures human beings within confined loops of time and space. This is why the members of Camp Arcadia never age, but also why they can never leave. If one is caught within a loop at the time it resets, they will be trapped there forever, reliving the same stretch of time without end. When the loop resets, the being will violently ‘snatch’ the residents ‘right out of their shoes,’ before re-spawning them in the exact place they were when they were first captured.
Camp Arcadia is not the only group of people under the deity’s control. They are, however, the only ones who submit to it willingly. The other victims Justin comes across include a man stuck within a loop of only a few seconds, a man who asks Justin for a gun just so he can die on his own terms, and a pair of friends intent on escaping so one can get back to his wife and child. The ultimate difference between the Camp members and the other captives is their attitude toward the being. While Camp Arcadia worships it, the others are forced to live under its authority and spend all their waking moments resisting its influence.
The central question at the heart of THE ENDLESS is the following: is it worth giving up control over your own life in order to live comfortably? (Surrender) Or, Is it worth living a difficult life to retain your autonomy? (Resistance) Justin and Aaron ultimately choose the path of resistance, but only once Justin is willing to cede control over Aaron’s life as well.
Ventress wants to face it. You want to fight it. But I don’t think I want either of those things. – Radek, ANNIHILATION
Based on the novel of the same name by Jeff VanderMeer, ANNIHILATION is a singular sci/fi horror film that prioritizes its philosophical ideas over the logic of the universe it creates. In the film, an alien presence crash lands on the coast of Florida and slowly begins engulfing the world around it. Named ‘The Shimmer’ by the military scientists who study it, the zone it inhabits is referred to as Area X. In Area X, nothing is as it seems. There, the DNA of all living things refracts, causing bizarre mutations, duplications, and transformations. After groups of soldiers sent into the Shimmer never return, leadership decides to send a group of scientists – this time, all women.
Because venturing into the Shimmer is broadly considered a suicide mission, geomorphologist Sheppard claims that no one would agree to go unless their lives were already irreparably damaged. As is soon revealed, all members of the team are running from their own personal issues. Whether cancer, mental illness, addiction, infidelity, or the loss of a loved one, every woman has a clear motivation for wanting to reckon with The Shimmer. However, these tragedies in their lives lead each woman to react differently when confronted with the alien force.
While Sheppard and Thorensen die fighting the mutant monsters created by The Shimmer (Resistance), Radek and Ventress give into its power, allowing it inside of themselves and ultimately becoming a part of it themselves (Surrender). Protagonist Lena, however, wants only to save her husband and heal their relationship. She forges a new path between surrender and resistance, which allows her to leave Area X alive, and return to her husband Kane. What lies between surrender and resistance? Adaptation.
By recognizing this third response to the cosmic horror she faces, Lena grasps the true nature of The Shimmer: “It wasn’t destroying. It was changing everything. It was making something new.” The Lena that emerges from Area X isn’t the same one who ventured in. This transformation highlights the power of adaptation, showing that when up against forces beyond our understanding, survival often means evolving rather than simply resisting or surrendering. Lena’s journey in ANNIHILATION adds a compelling twist, suggesting that embracing change can be the ultimate act of resilience and ingenuity in the face of the unknown.
Both THE ENDLESS and ANNIHILATION delve deeply into the core themes of cosmic horror, confronting characters with forces far beyond human understanding and control. In THE ENDLESS, the brothers’ dilemma between a comfortable yet submissive existence within the cult and the struggle for autonomy encapsulates the tension between surrender and resistance. ANNIHILATION, on the other hand, presents a spectrum of responses to The Shimmer. Lena’s path of adaptation reveals a nuanced approach to the alien force, seeing it as a transformative rather than destructive power.
These films illustrate the varied human responses to such overwhelming cosmic power—resistance, surrender, and adaptation—each offering a unique perspective on how to cope with the sublime and the incomprehensible. Through their narratives, they pose profound questions about the nature of existence and the human condition, ultimately suggesting that adaptation and transformation may be the most resilient responses to the vast, indifferent universe that cosmic horror embodies.
