Annihilation felt more magical than cosmic simply because it was so similar to the concept of exploring a fae wild. Loved the movie. Also loved, on rewatching, that it wasn’t “we need a group of WOMEN who are LADIES going on a journey with each other and bonding as WOMEN to be watched by WOMEN.” The characters simply existing as people rather than set pieces really elevated it. Once you call attention to an all male/female cast, it instantly becomes campier.