Alex Garland's highly anticipated sci-fi thriller Annihilation has started screening for critics overseas, and early reviews are hailing the film as a winner.
The film has had a rocky road to release. Paramount Pictures sold the international distribution to Netflix after a producer was concerned the film was "too intellectual".
The deal means the Natalie Portman film will skip a cinema release in New Zealand and go straight to the streaming service.
But according to the reactions of critics, that's no comment on the film's quality. One reviewer hailed it as a "masterpiece".
"Annihilation is, in wholly inelegant terms, one hell of a mindf***," wrote IndieWire Film Editor Kate Erbland. "Most of the time, I didn't want it to end; occasionally, I was so unsettled I thought I might keel over."
"Make no mistake, #Annihilation is a new sci-fi classic," wrote journalist Drew Taylor. "Brilliant, thrilling, and provocative, it has as much metaphoric depth as it does narrative tension. I'm floored."
Slashfilm writer Ben Pearson agreed: "This is the type of sci-if we always say we want to see. Bold, challenging, singular, visually dazzling. Would not be the least bit surprised to see it hailed as a masterpiece (and it might actually be one)."
Annihilation, starring Natalie Portman, Tessa Thompson, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Gina Rodrigues, is being released on February 22 in the USA.
It is expected to be released on Netflix 17 days after.