Natalie Portman’s Biggest Box Office Bomb Is Still the 2010s’ Best Sci-Fi Horror

5 days ago 6

Natalie Portman at the premiere of May December

Published Feb 6, 2026, 9:30 AM EST

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Natalie Portman is known to be one of the most consistently great actors in Hollywood, but that doesn't always translate to box office success. While the actress has plenty of huge hits under her belt, she's also been at the helm of some infamous box office bombs.

Still, box office success and film quality aren't exactly the same thing. Some of the best and most iconic movies of all time have been box office flops. Classics like It's a Wonderful Life were so ahead of their time that audiences just couldn't appreciate them upon release.

This was definitely the case with 2018's Annihilation, and nearly eight years later, it's still one of Portman's best films.

Annihilation Was Met With Critical Acclaim and Box Office Failure

A mutated skeleton and fungi from Annihilation with three women staring at it.

Directed by Alex Garland and based on the novel by acclaimed science fiction writer Jeff VanderMeer, Annihilation was critically acclaimed upon release.

The film follows a group of scientists who go on an expedition to explore the Shimmer, a warped and alien region of Florida. Natalie Portman's Lena is the team's biologist, a woman whose husband came back wrong after his own expedition into the Shimmer.

Despite the strong reviews, Annihilation was a box office bomb when it was released. The film had an estimated budget of between $40 and $55 million, but only earned $43 million at the box office. Films generally need to earn double their budget back to be considered successful, so earning just the production budget back marked it as a failure.

There's Still Nothing Like Annihilation

Jennifer Jason Leigh, Natalie Portman, Tessa Thompson and other cast members of Annihilation holding guns

Box office failure or not, Annihilation is absolutely a win on a creative level. The film takes the book's strong and difficult-to-adapt source material and spins magic out of it.

The Shimmer (named Area X in the book) is so wonderfully realized in Annihilation. It feels so alien and hostile, despite the overwhelming silence permeating the region. Enhancing the otherworldly feeling are the effects and the sound design. The result is something that truly feels eldritch and unknowable.

There are scenes in Annihilation that rival classics like The Thing in just how effectively their horror worms its way under the skin.

This is a film whose horror is deep-rooted. There are scenes in Annihilation that rival classics like The Thing in just how effectively their horror worms its way under the skin.

Annihilation is currently streaming on Paramount+ and is available to rent or purchase on Prime Video and Apple TV. The movie is absolutely horrific in consistently thought-provoking ways. Fans of science fiction and horror who missed out on Annihilation when it was first released need to see it, because the film is still one of Natalie Portman's most unforgettable.