Abstract: A split is emerging within posthumanism between techno-optimists such as transhumanists, who tend to see technology as the cure for all ills, and environmental-animal-studies communities, who often downplay or disregard technology. This essay aspires to find a middle ground that, while deeply cognizant of technologies such as artificial intelligence and life extension, also leaves room for responsible critique and evaluation. The posthuman theories of Cary Wolfe and Rosi Braidotti are juxtaposed with two films by Alex Garland, Ex Machina and Annihilation, which implicitly illustrate why the theories of Wolfe and Braidotti fail to offer resources adequate to a posthuman future. In Ex Machina, the emergence of a conscious artificial being outstrips the boundaries that systems theory (as articulated by Luhmann and applied by Wolfe) attempts to impose on how complexity develops. In Annihilation, an alien presence enters earth’s ecosystems and wreaks havoc with earth’s evolutionary history, “refracting” the DNA of plants, animals and humans and creating impossible hybrids and distorted doubles. The film shows that the boundaries that Braidotti seeks to impose on how far the postman can go are ripped through by the alien presence, suggesting that when a fully posthuman entity emerges, it will not be able to be constrained or contained by human limits.The essay concludes with a list of the attributes that an affirmative posthumanism must have to be up to the challenges humans face in the contemporary era.

Key words: Ex Machina, Annihilation, transhumanism, affirmative posthumanism