Based on this first trailer, Ben Wheatley’s upcoming film High-Rise fits right into the sometimes experimental, flourishing landscape of his own filmography. He’s had our attention since 2011’s Kill List, earned our laughter with 2012’s Sightseers and got very weird with 2013’s A Field in England.
For Wheatley, High-Rise represents an opportunity to bring is smooth stylings to an adaptation of J.G. Ballard’s visionary novel about societal fragility. It’s a story that should resonate well with a modern audience. Read the synopsis:
1975. Two miles west of London, Dr. Robert Laing moves into his new apartment seeking soulless anonymity, only to find that the building’s residents have no intention of leaving him alone. Resigned to the complex social dynamics unfolding around him, Laing bites the bullet and becomes neighbourly. As he struggles to establish his position, Laing’s good manners and sanity disintegrate along with the building. The lights go out and the lifts fail but the party goes on. People are the problem. Booze is the currency. Sex is the panacea. Only much later, as he sits on his balcony eating the architect’s dog, does Dr. Robert Laing finally feel at home…
In his review from the film’s debut at Fantastic Fest last September, our own Rob Hunter praised the film for its adherence to Ballard’s themes, but won’t be surprised if modern audiences don’t find it to be an eye-opening experience:
High-Rise is an incredibly funny and absurd look at class, blind consumerism, and the destabilization of community. The building has everything these people need, meaning there’s no reason to ever leave. Wheatley keeps the novel’s mid-’70s setting, but the modern (at the time) building could easily be re-imagined as the even more isolating “future” we’re living in today. Apps are available for everything, and our phone (or laptop or iWatch) screens have become necessary life support systems. The idea’s the same in that as more and more things come to exist at our fingertips the need to use our legs or communicative social skills grows smaller.
The film spills its societal indictment onto the screen very early on, and while the random acts of violence and catering grow in intensity the theme remains the same. Things escalate, but the film simply plateaus partway through — at an admittedly entertaining state — and then eventually comes to an end. This is less a negative than a statement of fact, but it and its now-quaint (albeit still cynical) observation on society prevent the film from becoming much more than “just” a ridiculously fun and intensely aware experience. It’s hard to imagine anyone having their eyes opened by the film the same way Ballard’s novel did for readers four decades ago.
StudioCanal will release High-Rise in the UK on March 18th. It stars Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons, Sienna Miller, Luke Evans, Elisabeth Moss. No release date has been announced for the United States as of yet, but we’ll keep you updated.
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