Gina Rodriguez

In Annihilation (2018), Gina Rodriguez’s Anya Thorensen has little patience for the thoughtful faces around her. Alex Garland’s science-fiction horror needs that irritation: its changing forest could easily become more interesting than the women walking through it. We were glad of her impatience, because it kept us concerned about a person when the scenery threatened to take all our attention. Rodriguez gives the expedition someone whose response is immediate and easy to read.

The lead in Filly Brown (2012) brought her breakthrough, before Jane the Virgin (2014–2019) made her widely known as Jane Villanueva. Carrying a programme through comedy, drama and telenovela across five seasons is a different task from finding a place in a film ensemble. Alongside that television work came supporting parts in Deepwater Horizon (2016) and Annihilation. Those smaller parts matter to our view of her: they let us consider how she works alongside other actors, rather than judging her only as the centre of a story.

For Anya, a military veteran and paramedic, Rodriguez’s preparation included short hair and weight training. The physical change is less interesting to us than the contrast with Tessa Thompson’s quieter Josie Radek. Thompson spends less effort telling us what she feels, and beside her Rodriguez can seem a little too determined to be understood. Still, that difference helps the expedition avoid becoming a group of women responding in the same way. We would not want Rodriguez to surrender the impatience that makes her useful here.

Garland’s screenplay does not give every woman equal room, and some of their personal pain is explained too briskly. The cast keeps us concerned, but Rodriguez would benefit from writing that trusted us to understand more without being told. Start with Annihilation if you want to see what she can do without being asked to carry everything.