Now Playing: Watch this: ‘Annihilation’ teaser trailer released

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The new teaser trailer for Natalie Portman’s upcoming sci-fi/horror movie, “Annhilation,” knows the first rule of scary flicks. The monster you don’t see is always scarier than the one you do. 

“Annihilation” is based on Jeff VanderMeer’s 2014 best-selling novel, the first in his Southern Reach trilogy. First we see Portman in a flashback on an expedition into Area X, which has been cut off from civilization for decades. We also see her in the present being interrogated about whatever horrors she and her (all-women, a nice twist) team saw there. 

Very little is revealed about the being they encountered (“Was it carbon-based?” “Did it communicate with you?” Portman’s questioner asks), and that just makes the feeling of doom more palpable.

Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson, Tuva Novotny, and Oscar Isaac also star, and Alex Garland (“Ex Machina,” “The Beach,” “28 Days Later”) directs and wrote the screenplay.

“Annihilation” is set to come out on Feb. 23, 2018.

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