Film Review: Chronicle

Chronicle. Rated M (violence). 84 minutes. Directed by Josh Trank. Screenplay by Max Landis.

With their punchy, too-cool-for-school big screen debut, twenty-six year old filmmakers Josh Trank and Max Landis have found themselves riding a huge wave of popularity – and deservedly so. While it owes a considerable debt to the grand-daddies of the ‘hand-held camera/found footage/documentary-making nerd’ sub-genre Cloverfield (2008) and Blair Witch Project (1999), Chronicle wins points for the strength of the three excellent lead performances, its grand flights (quite literally) of imagination, and some impressive visual effects.

Andrew (Dane DeHaan, pictured) is living a claustrophobic existence at home with his parents – his mother who is slowly dying and his father who is a violent and abusive alcoholic. When his mates Steve (Michael B Jordan) and Matt (Alex Russell) discover a large crater with a hole in the middle of it, Andrew (who is documenting the extremes of his life with a video camera) is called upon to capture it on film. What the trio discover when they explore where the hole leads, changes their lives forever. Returning to the surface with supernatural powers, the trio – at first –use their new abilities playfully and to improve their popularity stakes amongst their peers. But as their combined powers to alter reality take a stronger hold, the battle becomes about how they will resist the dark side of extraordinary new possibilities.

True Blood cinematographer Matthew Jensen brings a generous (and recognisable) amount of that series’ visual flair to the screen, while editor Elliot Greenberg (Devil, Quarantine) works wonders with the rough and ready jump cuts – ensuring that the tension is mostly terrifically taut.

The dominant skill in this sub-genre is to never let us, or the camera, feel too comfortable or relaxed about where the story is taking us – and the spectacular climatic sequences in which good battles evil for the soul of one of the trio, are certainly worth the restless, edgy wait.

This review was commissioned by the Geraldton Newspaper Group.