Review of High-Rise (2015) by Jonathan B — 09 Oct 2016

Ben Wheatley has brought us some quirky and left-of-field movies that deal with dark themes and in High-Rise, he again brings to the screen a a tale that touches on insanity. I really enjoyed aspects of this movie.

I thought the first half or so was incredibly stylish and intriguing. I loved the look. Set in a sort of futuristic world that is recognisably the glamorous side of the 1970s it feels very "A Clockwork Orange" and it's very easy to imagine Alex and his droogs running riot just the other side of London to where this film takes place.

In High-Rise, a secretive doctor moves into a new housing development. The block of flats is pretty much a self-contained world that people only leave in order to go to work. It is a community where a person is defined by which floor they occupy with the upper classes living above the more ordinary people.

The social groups barely mix and as each side of the social divide party amongst themselves, the divisions become heightened and tensions rise. As the electricity and food supply begin to fail, anarchy and chaos overrun the tower and the inhabitants defend into madness and debauchery.

Never having read the JG Ballard book on which the movie is based, I found myself reminded a kind of surrealist, adult version of Lord of the Flies. Where I feel the film fell a little short was in the second half, as the social fabric of the building falls apart, the plot became messy and incoherent.

Also, aspects of the script were clumsy with characters saying lines that were so far from the natural as to be utterly baffling. I have to say, the actors were all very well cast, each, suiting their characters perfectly.

I especially liked Keeley Hawes and Jeremy Irons who completely nailed their roles. As a lead, Tom Hiddleston was convincingly suave and seductive and Luke Evans as Wilder, a character who is both domineering and violent gives a performance that felt appropriate for the setting.

I enjoy films that challenge and provoke and this sexy, violent, seductive movie had a great deal for me to enjoy but just missed out on a higher rating by the confusion of the second half which I feel could have been sorted with better scripting and tighter, more focused plotting.