Critically acclaimed Natalie Portman sci-fi film finds new home after being removed from Netflix

Just weeks after it was reported that Annihilation was being removed from Netflix, the critically acclaimed sci-fi film has landed a new streaming home.

The 2018 film, previously billed as a “Netflix Original,” was exclusively available on the platform for the past seven years before being axed in March 2025.

Natalie Portman and directed by Alex Garland, the film takes its inspiration from Jeff VanderMeer's book of the same name, the first of his Southern Reach trilogy.

Portman plays the lead role as a biologist who crosses into an environmental disaster zone in search of answers about the disappearance of her husband (Oscar Isaac). She is joined on her mission by several other specialists, played Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson, and Jennifer Jason Leigh.

Despite the Netflix labelling, the film was distributed by Paramount and even had a cinema release in the United States. The term “Netflix Original” can refer to films that the streaming giant has the exclusive rights to host rather than ones they specifically produced.

In recent years, Netflix subscribers have grown frustrated by the streaming service’s removal of titles released under the “Original” label – with casualties including the TV shows Hemlock Grove and The Alienist and horror film His House.

As the licence has now expired, Prime Video will now be the UK home for Annihilation for the foreseeable future.

Annihilation’s rehoming comes after VanderMeer criticised Garland in March 2024 for comments the director made about the current state of US politics upon the release of his film Civil War.

Garland said he believes political differences have been made into “moral issues”, describing it as “f***ing idiotic”.

The Ex-Machina director told The Hollywood Reporter: “Left and right are ideological arguments about how to run a state. That’s all they are. They are not a right or wrong, or good and bad. It’s which do you think has greater efficacy? That’s it.

“But we’ve made it into ‘good and bad.’ We made it into a moral issue, and it’s f***ing idiotic, and incredibly dangerous … I personally [blame] some of this on social media.”

VanderMeer re-shared Garland’s post at the time alongside the phrase “self-annihilation” – an intentional play on the title of the project they have in common.

Garland’s current film, Warfare, is now in cinemas. He also wrote the screenplay for the upcoming horror sequel 28 Years Later, which sees director Danny Boyle return to the zombie franchise which was first launched in 2002.