High-Rise

Ben Wheatley's adaptation of J.G. Ballard's classic 1975 sci-fi novel brings up a lot more questions than it answers, although none of them really are about the fate of the characters. The themes revolve around the futility of utopia and how fragile society really is. While these themes are fantastic to explore in a film, the presentation of them seems a little muddled and it takes a while to sort them out through a lot of mess.

Dr. Robert Laing (Tom Hiddleston) has just moved into a new high rise apartment building which has everything you could ever want contained in a single building. It seems like a perfect place to live, with places to shop, exercise and socialise all in one. After getting closer acquainted with his neighbour Charlotte (Sienna Miller), Laing learns that there is a fragile class hierarchy within the building, with poorer families on lower floors and wealthier couples and singles further up the building, with the architect of the building, Royal (Jeremy Irons), living in the rooftop penthouse. Soon the building starts to fall into disrepair and with that the social structure begins to disintegrate leaving Laing to question the hierarchy and his place in it.

When the self-contained society begins to break down, it seems like a bit of a surprise, almost as if it was rushed in the script. And while signs of the disintegration are all around, it seems like a shock when it comes. The film as a result almost has a delirious quality that has to do with the lack of lighting that comes along when the lights in the building go out. Some of these stylistic choices also make the subtext about the fall of society and class warfare a little hard to make out, which is a shame because that would a really exciting thing to see. The thing I found hardest to keep up with was the characters ultimate acceptance of what was happening around them. There was little acknowledgement that what was happening was so absurd.

The aesthetics of the film were perfect. While it is not exactly set in the future, it does take place in "the future of 1975", as though all the fashion and furniture and vehicles of that decade never went out of style. It definitely adds a level of comfortability in the beginning of the film as this is an instantly recognisable time and place.

I was surprised at the large cast of stars in this movie as all of the actors are quite a draw. Tom Hiddleston shines as Laing and is completely comfortable in the role. This could be the role that nabs him a James Bond bid because he is able to be suave and also take on some more physical action scenes. Jeremy Irons is always great for a sinister authority figure who you're unsure of whether you can trust him. Elisabeth Moss was a surprise to see in this and although she doesn't have a large part, she is totally takes over her character. Supporting roles from Luke Evans and James Purefoy are just a delight to watch. The only performance I wasn't entirely convinced by was from Sienna Miller, who's character was important but she didn't give the character any real interest.

High-Rise has a lot of great things; it's cast, the style and the themes buried deep down are all what I was expecting from this movie, but in the end it wasn't an entirely enjoyable experience. The sloppy way that the movie was put together felt very disappointing despite the fact that it should have been better.