Friday, May 13, 2016

High-Rise Movie Review

Tom Hiddleston stars in High-Rise

How's the High Life?

Rotten Tomatoes Plot: High-Rise stars Tom Hiddleston as Dr. Robert Laing, the newest resident of a luxurious apartment in a high-tech concrete skyscraper whose lofty location places him amongst the upper class. Laing quickly settles into high society life and meets the building's eccentric tenants: Charlotte (Sienna Miller), his upstairs neighbor and bohemian single mother; Wilder (Luke Evans), a charismatic documentarian who lives with his pregnant wife Helen (Elisabeth Moss); and Mr. Royal (Jeremy Irons), the enigmatic architect who designed the building. Life seems like paradise to the solitude-seeking Laing. But as power outages become more frequent and building flaws emerge, particularly on the lower floors, the regimented social strata begins to crumble and the building becomes a battlefield in a literal class war. Directed by Ben Wheatley.


"For all its inconveniences, Laing was satisfied with life in the High-Rise." Evidently, a lot can change in three months. High-Rise is a quirky, stylish thriller that pits the haves vs. have-nots inside a 40-story Towering Inferno: What could possibly go wrong? In a word... everything. "Healthy competition (might be) the basis of a thriving economy," but this environment closer resembles a science experiment gone wrong bonkers. Hiddleston's terrific, as is the "stoic and perfectly breasted" Miller; but Evans steals the show as the crazy/outspoken Wilder. The final 30-45 minutes borders on unpleasant, but overall... fantastically original and entertaining.

Grade: B