High-Rise | |
---|---|
![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Ben Wheatley |
Screenplay by | Amy Jump |
Based on | High-Rise by J. G. Ballard |
Produced by | Jeremy Thomas |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Laurie Rose |
Edited by |
|
Music by | Clint Mansell |
Production companies |
|
Distributed by | StudioCanal |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 119 minutes [1] |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Budget | £6.1 million (approximately US$8 million) [2] |
Box office | $4.1 million [3] |
High-Rise is a 2015 British dystopian thriller film directed by Ben Wheatley from a screenplay by Amy Jump, based on the 1975 novel of the same name by J. G. Ballard. [4] The film stars Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons, Sienna Miller, Luke Evans, and Elisabeth Moss. [5] [6] [7]
The film is set in a luxury tower block in 1975. Featuring a wealth of modern conveniences, the building allows its residents to become gradually uninterested in the outside world. The infrastructure begins to fail and tensions between residents become apparent, and the building soon descends into chaos.
In September 2015, the film received its world première at the Toronto International Film Festival and its European première at the 63rd San Sebastián Film Festival. The film was released in the United Kingdom on 18 March 2016 by StudioCanal. Though a modest critical success, the film's theatrical box office failed to meet its production costs. [2] [8] In 2017 it was nominated for the Empire Award for Best British Film.
In September 1975, Dr Robert Laing lives in a ravaged high-rise tower block, killing a dog and spit-roasting its leg.
Three months earlier, the 40-storey tower on the outskirts of London, built by esteemed architect Anthony Royal, is the epitome of chic, modern living. Wealthy residents live on the top floors, and poorer residents live below. With amenities including a pool, gym, spa, supermarket and primary school, the occupants have little reason to leave the building beyond working hours and become increasingly isolated from the outside world. Laing, who moves onto the 25th floor after his sister dies, begins a sexual relationship with single mother Charlotte Melville and becomes a father figure to her son, Toby. Laing also befriends documentary filmmaker Richard Wilder and his pregnant wife Helen, who live in a low-level apartment with their children. While Laing leads a physiology class in examining a severed head, a student named Munrow faints and is given a precautionary brain scan. The next day, Laing is taken to the 40th-storey penthouse to meet Royal, who invites him to a party thrown by his snobby wife, Ann.
The gathering turns out to be an 18th-century costume party where Laing's everyday suit is ridiculed by Ann and other guests, including Munrow, who also lives in the building. Humiliated, Laing is thrown out of the party and becomes trapped in an elevator during a power outage. Such outages are becoming common, along with water being shut off and garbage chutes becoming blocked, to the annoyance of residents. Royal tells Laing these are simply growing pains of a new building. Munrow's brain scans come back clean, but a vengeful Laing leads him to believe he has a brain tumour. Another power outage ignites a night of decadent partying throughout the high-rise, and a drunk Munrow commits suicide by jumping off the 39th floor. Suspicious that no police arrive to investigate, Wilder becomes intent on exposing the injustices within the high-rise. Law and order in the building disintegrate as violence and debauchery become commonplace, garbage piles up, food becomes scarce, and class warfare erupts between floors. Laing shows signs of mental disturbance, savagely beating a man, barricading himself in his apartment, and having sex with Helen.
Wilder, having been beaten by upper-floor residents, decides to kill Royal, believing him responsible for the chaos. It is implied that Royal has bribed authorities to ignore the disorder. Acquiring a gun from the Royals' former housekeeper, Wilder learns that Toby is Royal's illegitimate child. Breaking into Charlotte's apartment, Wilder tortures and rapes her for information on Royal. A television newsreader named Cosgrove, the only upper-floor resident who still leaves for work, is killed by a gang of lower-floor residents. Some upper-floor residents butcher Ann's horse for meat and ask Laing to lobotomise Wilder as a dangerous agitator. After conducting a psychiatric examination, Laing refuses, stating that Wilder is "possibly the sanest man in the building". Laing is nearly thrown off the tower, but Royal intervenes. He surmises to Laing that the failure of the high-rise may actually be a kind of success, a "crucible for change" that could lead residents to escape to a new life. Helen gives birth to her overdue baby. Wilder makes his way to the penthouse, and after a confrontation with Royal, shoots him dead. Wilder is then stabbed to death by Royal's women, as Toby looks on through his kaleidoscope.
The film ends as it began in the ravaged high-rise. Violence has abated somewhat since many residents are dead or have fled. Laing appears to have gone insane, speaking about himself and to others in the third person. He lies down with Charlotte, reflecting that what has happened will eventually occur in the second tower of the development. The film concludes with Toby listening to a radio broadcast of Margaret Thatcher declaring that "where there is state capitalism there can never be political freedom."
British producer Jeremy Thomas had wanted to make a film adaptation of J. G. Ballard's High-Rise since the 1970s. [9] He tried to make it in the late 1970s with Nicolas Roeg directing from a script by Paul Mayersberg. [10] [11] In the 2000s, Thomas began developing the project with screenwriter Richard Stanley and director Vincenzo Natali, with the film intended as a loose adaptation of the novel. [12]
In 2013, Wheatley started looking into who held the rights to the book, which led him to Thomas. [13] Wheatley has remarked: "The book makes as much sense now as it did then. It was written in the '70s, projecting itself into a near future, but we live in that future now. We're almost in a new version of the '70s." [14]
Screenwriter Amy Jump, who is also Wheatley's wife, adapted the book. [15]
Hiddleston's involvement in the project was announced in February 2014 after he was cast in the role of Dr Robert Laing. [16] Hiddleston had previously worked with Thomas on Jim Jarmusch's 2013 film Only Lovers Left Alive . [6] The involvement of Luke Evans and Elisabeth Moss was announced that June. [17] [18]
Clint Mansell composed the soundtrack for the film. [19]
International sales were handled by HanWay Films, and key financiers included the British Film Institute and FilmFour. [14] [18]
Principal photography began in July 2014 in Belfast, [5] primarily in the seaside resort town of Bangor, County Down. [20] [21]
On 3 July 2014, Wheatley tweeted pictures of the set. [22] On 6 August 2014, Hiddleston tweeted a photograph of himself from the set seen in character as Laing, together with Wheatley, Evans and director of photography Laurie Rose. [23]
Elisabeth Moss later remarked on Wheatley and the shoot: "I don't know anyone who makes movies like he does... (it was) like if you gave him a bigger crew, a little bit more money, costumes and hair and makeup, all of that stuff that maybe he hasn't had before. It was so fun, he is just a fucking genius and he's so funny." [24]
Prior to production on the film, it was announced that StudioCanal and The Jokers would be distributing the film in the United Kingdom and France, respectively. [18] In August 2015, it was announced that Soda Pictures would distribute the film in Canada. [25] The film had its world première at the Toronto International Film Festival on 13 September 2015. [26] It had its international premiere at the San Sebastian Film Festival on 21 September 2015. [27] The film went onto screen at the London Film Festival on 9 October 2015, and the Torino Film Festival on 22 November 2015. [28] [29] Shortly after, it was announced Magnet Releasing had acquired the US distribution rights to the film. [30] The film was released on 18 March 2016 in the United Kingdom. [31] The film was released in the United States on 28 April 2016, with a day and date video on demand and theatrical limited release on 13 May 2016. [32] [33]
Tim Robey of The Telegraph awarded High-Rise 4 out of 5 stars, praising the brutality and dark comedy. [34] IGN awarded it a score of 7.0 out of 10, saying "Enjoyably dark and disturbing adaptation of one of J.G. Ballard's best." [35] Kate Wilson of Varsity gave the film a 5-star review, calling it a "masterpiece." [36] In a review for Architects Journal , Laura Mark was impressed by the "fantastic" visuals but noted that it lacked plot. Mark also stated that the dystopia portrayed reflected current concerns regarding gentrification and division. [37]
On Rotten Tomatoes, it has an approval rating of 60% based on 223 reviews, with an average rating of 6.4/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "High-Rise may not quite live up to its classic source material, but it still offers an energetic, well-acted, and thought-provoking take on its timely socioeconomic themes." [38] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 65 out of 100 based on reviews from 36 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [39]
Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipients | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
British Independent Film Awards [40] | 6 December 2015 | Best Actor | Tom Hiddleston | Nominated |
Best Supporting Actress | Sienna Miller | Nominated | ||
Best Supporting Actor | Luke Evans | Nominated | ||
Best Screenplay | Amy Jump | Nominated | ||
London Film Critics' Circle Awards [41] | 22 January 2017 | British/Irish film of the Year | High-Rise | Nominated |
British Film Designers Guild Awards [42] | 28 January 2017 | Best Production Design for an Independent Feature Film | Mark Tildesley, Frank Walsh, and Paki Smith | Won |
European Composer and Songwriter Alliance Grand Scores Award [43] | 2 February 2017 | Best Orchestral Score | Clint Mansell | Won |
Empire Awards [44] | 19 March 2017 | Best British Film | High-Rise | Nominated |
Diversity in Media Awards | 15 September 2017 | Movie of the Year | High-Rise | Nominated |
James Graham Ballard was an English novelist and short-story writer, satirist and essayist known for psychologically provocative works of fiction that explore the relations between human psychology, technology, sex and mass media. Ballard first became associated with New Wave science fiction for post-apocalyptic novels such as The Drowned World (1962). He later courted controversy with the short-story collection The Atrocity Exhibition (1970), which includes the story "Why I Want to Fuck Ronald Reagan" (1968), and the novel Crash (1973), a story about car-crash fetishists.
Julia Margaret Deakin is an English actress. She is known for her roles in the sitcoms So Haunt Me (1992–1994), Oh Doctor Beeching! (1996–1997) and Spaced (1999–2001). Her film appearances include Hot Fuzz (2007) and High-Rise (2015).
Trellick Tower is a Grade II* listed tower block on the Cheltenham Estate in Kensal Town, London. Opened in 1972, it was commissioned by the Greater London Council and designed in the Brutalist style by architect Ernő Goldfinger. The tower was planned to replace outdated social accommodation, and designed as an improvement on Goldfinger's earlier Balfron Tower in East London. It was the last major project he worked on, and featured various space-saving designs, along with a separate access tower containing a plant room.
High-Rise is a 1975 novel by British writer J. G. Ballard. The story describes the disintegration of a luxury high-rise building as its affluent residents gradually descend into violent chaos. As with Ballard's previous novels Crash (1973) and Concrete Island (1974), High-Rise inquires into the ways in which modern social and technological landscapes could alter the human psyche in provocative and hitherto unexplored ways. It was adapted into a film of the same name, in 2015, by director Ben Wheatley.
Sienna Rose Diana Miller is an American-born British actress. Born in New York City and raised in London, she began her career as a photography model, appearing in the pages of Italian Vogue and for the 2003 Pirelli Calendar. Her acting breakthrough came in the 2004 films Layer Cake and Alfie. She subsequently portrayed socialite Edie Sedgwick in Factory Girl (2006) and author Caitlin Macnamara in The Edge of Love (2008), and was nominated for the BAFTA Rising Star Award in 2008. Her role as The Baroness in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009) was followed by a brief sabbatical from the screen amid increased tabloid scrutiny.
James Brian Mark Purefoy is an English actor. He played Mark Antony in the HBO series Rome, Nick Jenkins in A Dance to the Music of Time, college professor turned serial killer Joe Carroll in the series The Following, Solomon Kane in the film of the same name, and Hap Collins in the Sundance series Hap and Leonard. In 2018, he starred as Laurens Bancroft in the first season of Altered Carbon, a Netflix original series. Following an uncredited role as V in the 2006 film V for Vendetta, he was cast in a main role as Captain Gulliver "Gully" Troy / Captain Blighty in the 2020–2021 second and 2022 third season of the television series Pennyworth, the prequel to both Gotham and V for Vendetta.
Elisabeth Singleton Moss is an American actor and producer. For her work in television dramas, she has received two Golden Globe Awards and Primetime Emmy Awards, and Vulture named her the "Queen of Peak TV" in 2017.
Jeremy Jack Thomas, CBE is a British film producer, founder and chairman of Recorded Picture Company. He produced Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor, which won the 1988 Academy Award for Best Picture. In 2006 he received a European Film Award for Outstanding European Achievement in World Cinema. His father was director Ralph Thomas, while his uncle Gerald Thomas directed all of the films in the Carry On franchise.
Ben Wheatley is an English filmmaker, film editor, and animator. Beginning his career in advertising, Wheatley first gained recognition and acclaim for his commercials and short films, before transitioning into feature films and television programmes. He is best known for his work in the thriller and horror genres, with his films frequently incorporating heavy elements of black comedy and satire.
Zawedde Emma Ashton is a British actress and playwright. She is best known for her roles in the comedy dramas Fresh Meat and Not Safe for Work, the Netflix horror thriller film Velvet Buzzsaw, and for her portrayal of Joyce Carol Vincent in Dreams of a Life (2011). She also portrayed Dar-Benn in The Marvels (2023).
Thomas William Hiddleston is an English actor. He gained international fame portraying Loki in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), starting with Thor in 2011 and most recently headlining the Disney+ series Loki since 2021.
Top of the Lake is a mystery drama television series created and written by Jane Campion and Gerard Lee, and directed by Campion and Garth Davis. It was broadcast in 2013, and the sequel, entitled Top of the Lake: China Girl, in 2017. It is Campion's first work for television since An Angel at My Table in 1990.
I Saw the Light is a 2015 American biographical drama film directed, written, and produced by Marc Abraham, starring Tom Hiddleston as country music legend Hank Williams and Elizabeth Olsen as his first wife, Audrey Williams. It is based on the book Hank Williams: The Biography by Colin Escott, George Merritt, and William (Bill) MacEwen. It was screened in the Special Presentations section of the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival.
The Night Manager is a British spy thriller television serial based on the 1993 novel by John le Carré and adapted by David Farr. The six-part first series, directed by Susanne Bier and starring Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie, Olivia Colman, Tom Hollander, David Harewood and Elizabeth Debicki, began broadcasting on BBC One on 21 February 2016. It has been sold internationally by IMG to over 180 countries.
Free Fire is a 2016 British action comedy film directed by Ben Wheatley, from a screenplay by Wheatley and Amy Jump. It stars Sharlto Copley, Armie Hammer, Brie Larson, Cillian Murphy, Jack Reynor, Babou Ceesay, Enzo Cilenti, Sam Riley, Michael Smiley and Noah Taylor.
The 18th British Independent Film Awards nominations were announced on 3 November 2015.
Mad to Be Normal is a 2017 British drama film directed by Robert Mullan and written by Robert Mullan and Tracy Moreton. The film stars David Tennant, Elisabeth Moss, Gabriel Byrne, Michael Gambon, David Bamber, Olivia Poulet and Trevor White. The film was released on 6 April 2017 by GSP Studios International.
Laurie Rose is an English cinematographer based in Brighton. He has collaborated with director Ben Wheatley on films such as Down Terrace, High-Rise, Free Fire and the 2020 adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca. In 2014, Complex included him on the "Underrated Cinematographers Poised to Make It Big in 2015" list. In 2016, Variety included him on the "10 Cinematographers to Watch" list. In that year, he became a member of the British Society of Cinematographers. At the 2016 British Academy Television Craft Awards, he won the Photography & Lighting: Fiction award for his work on London Spy.
Happy New Year, Colin Burstead is a 2018 British comedy-drama film written and directed by Ben Wheatley and featuring Neil Maskell as the title character, with Hayley Squires, Sam Riley, Doon Mackichan, Joe Cole, and Charles Dance also starring. It tells the story of a man who rents a country house for his extended family to celebrate the New Year. The film premiered at the 62nd BFI London Film Festival on 11 October 2018, and was distributed by BBC Films, airing on BBC Two on 30 December 2018.