Review of High-Rise (2015) by Michael D — 14 May 2016

Sometimes cinema gets real sneaky. In the case of High-Rise, barely a flutter was heard as it dropped into homes two days ago and critics are busy making it the most underrated film of the year so far.

It's a star studded cast to be sure but with just a hint of advertising and no theater release until after the streaming release, it was like the film didn't even come out. And what a shame that is.

High-Rise is something special, something that could even be called this generation's Clockwork Orange. A scathing, bloody, psychotic critique of capitalism and all of its amenities while at the same time a cold dismemberment of the white western lifestyle as a whole, the film is such a taught exercise in the horror/thriller/psychological drama mashup that you could hear a pin drop as the movie wrapped up.

Paced with a frenetic soundtrack and some killer effects mixing, High-Rise is a brutal and savage endeavor, challenging to watch but worth it all the same. The movie takes apart the individual struggles of Hiddleston's character while tapping into the class struggles of 40 isolated floors and the interplay between each of the buildings many class members.

High-Rise successfully juggles a great many plates at once, only slipping a few times briefly before getting everything rolling again, balancing a load of economics, politics, science-fiction, dystopian futures, psychological trauma and social narrative quite handily.

Overall, the film is entrancing to watch, a clear coming out party not just for Wheatley, but also for Sienna Miller, who gets her first shot at really transforming herself into something other than a pretty face.

And at the end, High-Rise is the rarest of breeds, a particularly original (yes, I am aware it is an adaptation) film in an industry increasingly plagued by cinematic universes and reboots out the ass.

We can only hope to be privileged enough to see more of this kind of film.