Based on the best-selling novel of the same name, High-Rise tells the story of Dr. Robert Laing, who moves into an advanced apartment complex. At first, the towering building appears to be a utopia, filled to the brim with adventure and opportunity. But as time goes on, more cracks start to appear in the fabric of the idealistic tower, and life inside the high-rise starts to crumble.
High-Rise is a film that intrigued me on premise alone. I love films that can craft unique, detailed worlds, and do the same with the characters who inhabit them. If there's anything that this film accomplishes, it's crafting a distinct world, and the elements of the world are brought to life with a vivid stylistic vision. This is one of the more unique films I've seen this year, and while not everything about it soars quite as high as I hoped, it's still a very thrilling ride.
The high-rise building is the key to the film, and the film manages to make the building itself feel like a character. The degradation of life inside the tower is portrayed very subtly, and the progression of that degradation is executed at a perfect rate. Although the day-to-day lives of the characters in the tower repeat themselves, small changes emerge that give them a more sinister edge as the story goes on. By the end of the film, the tower becomes less of a beacon of hope and more of a representation of loss. The society outside the tower is never really highlighted, leaving the focus entirely on the inside. While there was one scene that involved outside interference, it only served to show why the high-rise is so isolated.
The film simply doesn't hold back - especially in regards to violence - which only highlights the depths that the residents of the tower sink to. Although, there are times were what was happening went a bit over-the-top; nothing necessarily offended me, but it crosses the line from twisted to goofy. Some moments that are clearly supposed to be impactful fell flat, and there are also some deliberate stylistic choices that take away from certain moments rather than helping them land. If there's any aspect of the film that holds it back, it's these momentary losses of restraint, as well as when things get a bit too heavy-handed,
Tom Hiddleston makes a very good leading man, giving a very strong performance to a less defined character. Laing is a very reactionary character, and the one that stands out the least among some of the residents of the tower in terms of personality. At the same time, he stands out in certain situations; he tries to fit in, but only really manages to thrive in the chaos. Laing is a doctor, but he never assumes that role in the building beyond when he's actually doing his job; he's not a supportive or nurturing character. Rather, he's mostly a solitary character, but still a compelling one.
The other actors are fantastic as well. Luke Evans, who I've generally seen in more stoic, dignified roles, really lets loose in this film. Sienna Miller creates a very unique presence; there's always something off about her, and not just because she's perpetually drunk or high. Jeremy Irons stands out as well, and since his character was the one who built the tower, how he reacts to the changing society within it is one of the most important viewpoints. There are a few other characters as well, but none of them are particularly memorable. Still, everyone in supporting roles work very well to add more variety to the world of the high-rise.
The film looks absolutely gorgeous, which is greatly helped by how much colour pops on-screen. The high-rise is presented as a bright, shining world at first, but that colour is drained away as that world falls apart. The lighting is very dynamic; there aren't any scenes that relied on darkness to establish a mood, just changes in the colour palette. While the visuals do get a bit more murky as the film goes on, it never looks dull. The sharp and well-realized imagery greatly helps the story, and elevates simple moments to a higher visual level.
The directorial style is very smooth and controlled, allowing the world and the characters to establish themselves without any frenetic movement. At the beginning of the film, there are a lot of pauses used, which really allows the scenes to breathe and for the various atmospheres of the building to settle in. Although the visuals vary greatly across the different floors, the tone and the style manage to remain consistent. As the film goes on - and the tower and characters become more unbalanced - the loss of control can very much be felt through the camerawork. It was another subtle touch, as there were a handful (no pun intended) of handheld camera shots used in the middle of the film, showing the instability of the world slowly settling in.
The most interesting aspect of the story was in how the world and characters evolved and adapted to the gradually changing environments around them. The language of the script and the pace of conversation move at a consistent rate, and never lose any momentum. The film is very intelligently written, peppered with a series of rapidly moving, subtle jokes. Characters are established very quickly and concisely, as are the various elements of the world. A film that I can compare High-Rise to is Snowpiercer; there's so much variety and seemingly multiple worlds packed into a contained area, and they're all balanced very well.
High-Rise has a very dark sense of humour, and mainly uses that humour in quick bursts, to very effective results. Maybe it just appealed to some weirdly specific sense of humour that exists in me, but there are a lot moments - that I don't think were intended to be funny - that made me chuckle. It may just be due to the nonchalant nature of some things that went on in more extreme scenarios, but the film is just funny.
In the beginning, the film has a grand, sweeping score, which reflects the initial sense of wonder about the high-rise, but it gradually turns to more of a sense of unease. There's a lot of humour to be found in the music as well, and how it exists alongside the visuals is the key to making a lot of moments land. The film also somehow manages to make ABBA haunting. There's not a lot of silence, but there are a lot of times when music and visuals are all that's relied upon to tell the story. The film uses sound in general very effectively; one stylistic tactic is giving unrealistic emphasis and volume to certain actions, which make them stand out. This method works especially well in some slow-motion sequences, and were incorporated alongside the score perfectly.
The film touches on some very interesting themes; the disparity between the rich and the poor, the challenges that lower economic classes struggle with, and the impact of materialism on society. The point of the film is to portray what happens when a society collapses in on itself, and since the tower's world is so well-crafted, watching how it all falls apart has a lot of weight to it. While the future of life inside the tower appears to be more peaceful, the collapse of society happening again still seems inevitable. But when these themes are portrayed more obviously, the film loses a bit of steam, and the third act in particular felt a bit choppy. Maybe that was because of the unhinged nature of the high-rise at that point, but something about how the film was going just felt off.
High-Rise is certainly one of the more distinct films I've seen this year, and it ended up being one of my favourites to watch. I can't point to one element in particular that stood out, but everything working together in harmony is what makes it so enjoyable. Ben Wheatley's distinct vision brings the story to life in beautiful fashion, and I'm now very interested in reading the novel that the film is based on. For as wild and out-of-control that the film becomes, it never loses focus, and delivers its message in a fresh, dramatically strong way. The film doesn't pack quite as much of a punch that it thinks it does, but it's nonetheless very entertaining.
The high-rise building is the key to the film, and the film manages to make the building itself feel like a character. The degradation of life inside the tower is portrayed very subtly, and the progression of that degradation is executed at a perfect rate. Although the day-to-day lives of the characters in the tower repeat themselves, small changes emerge that give them a more sinister edge as the story goes on. By the end of the film, the tower becomes less of a beacon of hope and more of a representation of loss. The society outside the tower is never really highlighted, leaving the focus entirely on the inside. While there was one scene that involved outside interference, it only served to show why the high-rise is so isolated.
The film simply doesn't hold back - especially in regards to violence - which only highlights the depths that the residents of the tower sink to. Although, there are times were what was happening went a bit over-the-top; nothing necessarily offended me, but it crosses the line from twisted to goofy. Some moments that are clearly supposed to be impactful fell flat, and there are also some deliberate stylistic choices that take away from certain moments rather than helping them land. If there's any aspect of the film that holds it back, it's these momentary losses of restraint, as well as when things get a bit too heavy-handed,
Tom Hiddleston makes a very good leading man, giving a very strong performance to a less defined character. Laing is a very reactionary character, and the one that stands out the least among some of the residents of the tower in terms of personality. At the same time, he stands out in certain situations; he tries to fit in, but only really manages to thrive in the chaos. Laing is a doctor, but he never assumes that role in the building beyond when he's actually doing his job; he's not a supportive or nurturing character. Rather, he's mostly a solitary character, but still a compelling one.
The film looks absolutely gorgeous, which is greatly helped by how much colour pops on-screen. The high-rise is presented as a bright, shining world at first, but that colour is drained away as that world falls apart. The lighting is very dynamic; there aren't any scenes that relied on darkness to establish a mood, just changes in the colour palette. While the visuals do get a bit more murky as the film goes on, it never looks dull. The sharp and well-realized imagery greatly helps the story, and elevates simple moments to a higher visual level.
The directorial style is very smooth and controlled, allowing the world and the characters to establish themselves without any frenetic movement. At the beginning of the film, there are a lot of pauses used, which really allows the scenes to breathe and for the various atmospheres of the building to settle in. Although the visuals vary greatly across the different floors, the tone and the style manage to remain consistent. As the film goes on - and the tower and characters become more unbalanced - the loss of control can very much be felt through the camerawork. It was another subtle touch, as there were a handful (no pun intended) of handheld camera shots used in the middle of the film, showing the instability of the world slowly settling in.
The most interesting aspect of the story was in how the world and characters evolved and adapted to the gradually changing environments around them. The language of the script and the pace of conversation move at a consistent rate, and never lose any momentum. The film is very intelligently written, peppered with a series of rapidly moving, subtle jokes. Characters are established very quickly and concisely, as are the various elements of the world. A film that I can compare High-Rise to is Snowpiercer; there's so much variety and seemingly multiple worlds packed into a contained area, and they're all balanced very well.
In the beginning, the film has a grand, sweeping score, which reflects the initial sense of wonder about the high-rise, but it gradually turns to more of a sense of unease. There's a lot of humour to be found in the music as well, and how it exists alongside the visuals is the key to making a lot of moments land. The film also somehow manages to make ABBA haunting. There's not a lot of silence, but there are a lot of times when music and visuals are all that's relied upon to tell the story. The film uses sound in general very effectively; one stylistic tactic is giving unrealistic emphasis and volume to certain actions, which make them stand out. This method works especially well in some slow-motion sequences, and were incorporated alongside the score perfectly.
The film touches on some very interesting themes; the disparity between the rich and the poor, the challenges that lower economic classes struggle with, and the impact of materialism on society. The point of the film is to portray what happens when a society collapses in on itself, and since the tower's world is so well-crafted, watching how it all falls apart has a lot of weight to it. While the future of life inside the tower appears to be more peaceful, the collapse of society happening again still seems inevitable. But when these themes are portrayed more obviously, the film loses a bit of steam, and the third act in particular felt a bit choppy. Maybe that was because of the unhinged nature of the high-rise at that point, but something about how the film was going just felt off.
High-Rise is certainly one of the more distinct films I've seen this year, and it ended up being one of my favourites to watch. I can't point to one element in particular that stood out, but everything working together in harmony is what makes it so enjoyable. Ben Wheatley's distinct vision brings the story to life in beautiful fashion, and I'm now very interested in reading the novel that the film is based on. For as wild and out-of-control that the film becomes, it never loses focus, and delivers its message in a fresh, dramatically strong way. The film doesn't pack quite as much of a punch that it thinks it does, but it's nonetheless very entertaining.
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