When three teenagers discover a mysterious hole in the ground, their only obvious action is to explore it and, of course, capture the footage on tape. Picture bright orbiting lights, painfully loud shrieks and a few bloody noses and you have the recipe for the soon-to-be superpowers the boys gain. What starts off as telekinesis — levitating Legos and girls’ skirts — quickly turns dark when high school loner Andrew Detmer (Dane DeHaan) allows his inner demons to take control.
At home, Andrew’s mother is severely sick, and his out-of-work father is an abusive drunk — it’s no wonder the kid’s evil side shows its face in this semi-coming-of-age thriller. While the film is not always dark — and, might I say, scary — it also possesses an interesting progression as Andrew goes from geek to god. However, despite his friends — the other two-thirds of the trio are comprised of high school royalty Steve (Michael B. Jordan) and Andrew’s pot-head cousin Matt (Alex Russell) — attempt to acclimate him to this new-found glory, the powers associated are just too much for the teen to handle.
DeHaan is a star-in-the-making. The delivery of his character is spot-on and well-developed. From the moment Andrew appears on screen to the heart-breaking ending where he fights to the death with his cousin, the viewer forms a deep-seated sense of loyalty with this villain.
The film, despite jumping on the “found-footage” bandwagon a little late in the game, seriously surpasses expectations set by predecessors including The Blair Witch Project and the entire Paranormal Activity series. First-time feature director Josh Trank does an amazing job of steering clear of cliches — even though the black guy dies first, a trend so widely noticed a website, blackhorrormovies.com, was built around it. The death itself didn’t serve any other purpose but to showcase the already apparent aggression of Andrew. The movie brings to light the untapped potential of the group of unknown actors starring in the film. Chronicle is a unique take on superpowers that is smart, refreshing and even comedic with dark, funny dialogue.
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Film information
Movie: Chronicle
Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Michael Kelly and Alex Russell
Director: Josh Trank
Release Date: Friday
Rating: Four out of five stars
