Rent Chaos Walking on Amazon Video (paid link) // Buy the book (paid link)
Written by: Patrick Ness and Christopher Ford (screenplay by), Patrick Ness (based upon the book "The Knife of Never Letting Go" by)
Directed by: Doug Liman
Starring: Tom Holland, Daisy Ridley, Demián Bichir, David Oyelowo, Kurt Sutter, Cynthia Erivo, Mads Mikkelsen, Nick Jonas
Rated: PG-13
Watch the trailer
Plot
Two unlikely companions embark on a perilous adventure through the badlands of an unexplored planet as they try to escape a dangerous and disorienting reality where all thoughts are seen and heard by everyone.
Verdict
This relies on a gimmick that isn't fully developed, the strength of the gimmick depending on what's happening in the plot. The banal story is propped up by visible thoughts, but the execution is uneven. A couple of fatal flaws really hamper an intriguing concept.
Skip it.
Review
I think I'd be able to guess what's going on easily even if I didn't know the premise. Thoughts are visible, with some people's thoughts strong enough to look real. In this society, controlling your "noise" is paramount to prevent others from knowing what you know and to avoid embarrassment.
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| Daisy Ridley and Tom Holland play Viola and Todd Hewitt |
Todd Hewitt (Tom Holland) has trouble hiding his thoughts, but can also create very realistic manifestations. The first question is whether the movie can build on this concept or whether it remains a gimmick. The second question is how the mayor hides his thoughts completely. No one else can do that. The movie never answers that, and that was a question I was certain would be addressed in a big reveal that never came. The next question is why only men's thoughts are visible. I wondered if we'd get an answer to that. We don't.
Viola (Daisy Ridley) kicks the plot into gear. She crash lands on this planet. She was part of a colony ship. Todd's town of all men want to find her and do her harm. It's unclear why other than the plot needs antagonists.
We discover there's another town on this planet. Todd must escort Viola there for safety. On a planet that makes it difficult to keep secrets, how have this town kept so many? There's another town and no one ever let that slip or hinted at it in a world where thoughts are visible?
As paranoid as these men seem to be, how have they not killed each other over unintended insults? The dynamic of what you tell people versus what you actually think is a great idea, but it generates a lot of questions that don't get answered.
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| Daisy Ridley and Tom Holland play Viola and Todd Hewitt |
Todd grew up in a society without women, but this does a poor job of exploring the fact that he lacks social context. He wants to kiss Viola, but what context does he have for that? The movie states he's uneducated. Even past that, I'd assume they would both be interested in how the other lives. Todd is basically a dirt farmer while Viola grew up on an advanced space ship.
At one point Viola asks Todd how he knows it's night since it never gets dark. The movie makes no attempt at an answer. The lack of answers to numerous questions leaves the concept as a gimmick and incomplete. There are a few moments where characters generate no noise and thus have no thoughts in situations that I don't' believe for a second. Maybe the movie could fix some of this if it just made many of the characters a lot dumber.
This movie has some big reveals, but how do those secrets never slip? I don't buy it for a second. Todd's town kept some big ones. How did Todd's surrogate fathers never let anything slip since they live in the same house? I don't think it's possible, partly based on how much trouble Todd has controlling his noise. While that provides plenty of comedy, it also reveals many moments where he's trying to comfort Viola while being terrified himself. That's real.
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| Mads Mikkelsen plays the Mayor Prentiss |
At one point Todd creates a projection beyond anything else he's done. It happens because the plot demands it. I feel like the movie needs a scene of Todd practicing how to control or manipulate noise just to create a foundation for what we see later. Also the movie portrays Todd's fathers as good people, but later in the movie I have to question why they never left or stood up to the mayor if they are really 'good.'
There are many questions generated by the last act. This is a difficult idea to execute. For some people, there would be near constant noise. This is the case for Todd mostly, but there are more than a few moments, and one big moment, where he's silent. A concept like this always teeters on the edge of stretching belief too far. With this concept it's difficult to explain the why. Mayor Prentiss generates no noise other than projections of his choosing, the movie needs to make an attempt to explain him. I was certain that would come.
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