Director: Ben Wheatley
Cast: Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons, Sienna Miller, Luke Evans, Elisabeth Moss, James Purefoy
Running time: 118 mins
Release date: March 2016
“Later, as he sat on the balcony eating the dog, Dr Robert Laing reflected on the unusual events that had taken place within this huge apartment building during the previous three months.” For those unfamiliar with J.G. Ballard‘s 1975 novel High-Rise, there will certainly be some shocks in store as Ballard’s book began with one of the great first lines in the genre.
Director Ben Wheatley kicks-off his film adaptation in much the same fashion, with Tom Hiddleston playing Dr Robert Laing. He cooks up a canine storm recounting the sorry tale that led him down such a dark path.
HIGH-RISE is a savage and utterly brilliant satire of both 1960s social idealism and the “Thatcherite” values that undermined it, which is set in the 70s based on the book that was published in 1975.
We are first introduced to Dr Robert Laing as he is eating a barbecued dog on the balcony of his apartment where he lives on the 27th floor of a tower block built for the affluent. The well-off live in the lower floors, the rich – like Laing – in the middle, the super-rich at the top.
Hiddleston’s character has just taken ownership of his luxurious apartment. He finds himself drawn into a world of seduction and temptation as he is lured by the tantalising culture of nightly cocktail parties, where conversation always comes back to Royal (Jeremy Irons); the enigmatic, aristocratic architect who lives in the penthouse, who designed the high-rise building and asks the most pertinent questions in a story that – much like the majority of Ballard’s books and Wheatley’s films – doesn’t offer any easy answers.
However, as power outages become more frequent and flaws within the building become more apparent, particularly on the lower floors, the audience bears witness to the regimented social strata beginning to shatter. Nihilism, drugs and alcohol feed into wanton sex and destruction and the power structure starts to shift. The lower residents climb the High Rise and all hell breaks loose.
Amidst all of the chaos, we see Laing making conquests of the females in the movie, as he gets with Charlotte Melville (Sienna Miller) first and later Helen (Elisabeth Moss), wife of Luke Evans’ increasingly feral TV producer, who has abandoned her own children for a tryst.
Wheatley and regular collaborator and screenwriter Amy Jump have excelled in ripping into Ballard’s classic source novel with brutal, entertaining gusto, reeling back from this end-game of filthy detritus to a period just months before, when the building was state-of-the-art and at that moment in time, it was regarded as a pioneering beacon of modernism.
Wheatley’s engaging adaptation has also brought with it a very capable cast who deliver their roles with such zeal and delectation. Hiddleston is very apt at a playing such a deadpan role and portraying a conflicted character who’s so desperate to get everything right.
Sienna Miller plays Charlotte Melville, a pragmatist who sees the fall coming and is quick to adapt to the changing situation. She is great within her role and has been granted some fantastic killer lines, which she delivers brilliantly.
However, it is Luke Evans who proves to be the biggest scene-stealer as Richard Wilder. He is a revelation. He gives the audience an over-the-top performance, which is entirely suited to his character. He plays a lower floor resident who starts an ascent that makes for a deliciously dark twisted take on class-hopping. His character is engrossing as he’s murderous and repellent, but he’s also aspirational and this lends a sense of order to the chaos.
The film is brought to life by the superb score by Clint Mansell. The talented composer submerges the audience into a sultry composition that is both surreal and superb, which sweeps us into the fun and games, but the musical highlight is a slow-jam cover of ABBA’s S.O.S. by Portishead.
With a great cast and composer, there are of course a few areas that disappoint, as it feels as though the spirit of Seventies swinger parties and chaos suddenly falters in the final act. The high rise game of snakes and ladders draws to a confusing and unfulfilling close. With high expectations of the film ending with a bang, it fails to do so. It ends up delivering a rather underwhelming conclusion that is almost deflating after the brilliance preceding it.
Despite this, there is no denying that Wheatley has remained fairly faithful to the book with the great moments of satirical madness, horror and dark humour, making it difficult to imagine another director bringing the story to the big screen.
Overall, HIGH-RISE is sophisticated madness – savagery of the highest order in some aspects. Wheatley’s ultra-violent adaptation ticks all the boxes for entertaining destruction, which is more playful than disturbing. Aside from the disappointing third act with an ending that doesn’t quite feel done, the movie is a deliciously dark, fresh satire that boasts some fine acting.
Verdict
