A Contemporary Masterpiece' Guardian The First Volume Of The Extraordinary Southern Reach Trilogy - Now A Major Motion Picture Written And Directed By Alex Garland (Ex Machina) And Starring Natalie Portman And Oscar Isaac For Thirty Years, Area X Has Remained Mysterious And Remote Behind Its Intangible Border - An Environmental Disaster Zone, Though To All Appearances An Abundant Wilderness. The Southern Reach, A Secretive Government Agency, Has Sent Eleven Expeditions To Investigate Area X. One Has Ended In Mass Suicide, Another In A Hail Of Gunfire, The Eleventh In A Fatal Cancer Epidemic. Now Four Women Embark On The Twelfth Expedition Into The Unknown.