I wouldn't say Annihilation is in any way a remake of Stalker, shameless or not. It is clearly inspired by it a bit in terms of setting, but it has a very different message to say. Stalker was essentially a movie about faith. Annihilation is a movie about self-destruction, both in the destructive sense, but also as a necessary step to building a new self.
The concept of a special zone where things are not the same as in normal reality is merely a shared motif.
I think the setting is a pretty big part of Annihilation. The "about" is something that's shared by many different works, but the setting is a bit more unusual.
So while I don't agree that it's a shameless remake, I would say the most distinctive thing about it is the setting, and so to some extent it's a fair cop.
If we go into details about the setting, it is still vastly different from Stalker. The Zone in Stalker is only vaguely and mysteriously abnormal, in a subtle, mostly faith-based kind of way.
By contrast, the Zone in Annihilation is very overtly supernatural, and in very specific ways that are important to the point it's trying to make - merging and recombining humans and the problems that face them, and manifesting internal struggles externally. To be fair, the Zone in Roadside Picnic, the novel Stalker adapts, is also more overtly supernatural, but still in a very different way.
I really don't think it's fair to consider Stalker or Roadside Picnic anything more than inspiration for Annihilation.
I thought the accepted explanation of Annihilation was a metaphor for cancer. The slow seemingly unstoppable spread. Mutations creating new things that mimic the familiar but in often grotesque ways, mechanistically expanding to destructively consume everything in its path into a new form of life.
I thought Annihilation is more of a re-thinking of HP Lovecrafts story "The Colour out of Space". You should totally read it, it's fantastically creepy and clearly influenced the film.
Yes! I think you're right. That's a great connection, never thought of Annihilation in that way. "Color out of Space" is the first HPL story I ever read, and still one of my favorites.
