Dystopian novelist J.G. Ballard’s story of a high-rise luxury building in which tenants withdraw from society and turn to bacchanalian revelry and violent class warfare had a long journey to the screen, but director Ben Wheatley is the man for the job. He retains the setting (1970s England), as well as the implicit suggestion that our civilization relies upon technology and a constant stream of diversion to distract us from the barbarism that underlies the human condition.
High-Rise was met with a lukewarm reception upon its release, which means it will have to settle for cult status until it is justly reappraised as an unsettling classic working in the detached, yet frighteningly observant style of Kubrick. Those who read the book will be more prepared for High-Rise, which doesn’t tell a conventional story in realistic terms — it is outrageously over-the-top with a streak of satirical black humor that ultimately denigrates into out-and-out nastiness. You should know what you’re in for — sheer madness — but also that Wheatley and his crew deliver it masterfully, with hypnotic, propulsive editing that does better justice to the material than Ballard’s own prose.
High-Rise, benefitting from Laurie Rose’s lush cinematography, looks simply incredible. The ominous building and its many hidden surprises are brought to life with both practical effects and seamless CGI, and the set design superbly captures the transition from retro chic to grotesque trash heap. With fine performances from Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons, and Elisabeth Moss.
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