The Upcoming
  • Culture
    • Art
    • Cinema
      • Movie reviews
      • Film festivals
    • Food & Drinks
      • News & Features
      • Restaurant & bar reviews
      • Interviews & Recipes
    • Literature
    • Music
      • Live music
    • Theatre
    • Shows & On demand
  • Fashion & Lifestyle
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
  • What’s On
    • Art exhibitions
    • Theatre shows
  • Tickets
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Interviews
  • Competitions
  • Special events
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

London Film Festival 2015

High-Rise

London Film Festival 2015: High-Rise | Review
8 October 2015
Natasha Furlong
Avatar
Natasha Furlong
8 October 2015

Movie and show review

Natasha Furlong

High-RIse

★★★★★

Certificate

UPG121518 title=

Links

TwitterFacebookWebsite

Special event

“Later, as he sat on his balcony eating the dog, Dr Robert Laing reflected on the unusual events that had taken place,” so opens JG Ballard’s 1975 novel. Fittingly, Ben Wheatley’s long-awaited adaptation opens in much the same manner, with Tom Hiddleston happily munching on a very sweet dog’s leg.

A biting, and once again relevant satire, about materialism, classism and a Lord of the Flies-esque breakdown of society, High-Rise follows Laing (Hiddleston) as he moves into a building that offers, within its floors, a supermarket, a gym, swimming pools and more. The lower classes, families and poorer people, occupy the lower floors, the upper classes, celebrities and the mysterious Architect (Jeremy Irons) occupy the higher stories, and Laing finds himself comfortably in the middle. Pretty quickly, however, he’s seduced by the glitz of the upper floors and as the gap begins to widen society starts to break down. Predictably, things don’t end well. Especially for the dog.

Brutal, bizarre, inventive, with an outstanding cast (rounded out with Elizabeth Moss, Luke Evans and Keeley Hawes) and darkly comic, High-Rise is almost flawless. The sets are stunning, the music is perfect and Wheatley has Ballard’s off-the-wall humour down to a T. But High-Rise is a film that asks a lot of its audience, glossing over some of the more crucial events (namely the breakdown itself) through montages and leaving the watcher to piece it together. The screen time is stretched too thin over the ensemble cast, leaving gaps in their stories here and there.

Though definitely not everyone’s cup of tea, High-Rise is, for those willing to go along for the ride, definitely an experience. It’s the kind of film that leaves one slightly dazed and with a Tory government once again in power, its commentary on society is as relevant as ever.

★★★★★

Natasha Furlong

High-Rise does not have a UK release date yet.

For further information about the 59th London Film Festival visit here, and for more of our coverage visit here.

Related Itemsreview

More in Film festivals

Lovers Rock

★★★★★
Guy Lambert
Read More

Nomadland

★★★★★
Sarah Bradbury
Read More

Possessor

★★★★★
Andrew Murray
Read More

African Apocalypse

★★★★★
Andrew Murray
Read More

Limbo

★★★★★
Guy Lambert
Read More

New Order (Nuevo Orden)

★★★★★
Emma-Jane Betts
Read More

Striding Into the Wind

★★★★★
Andrew Murray
Read More

After Love

★★★★★
Andrew Murray
Read More

Notturno

★★★★★
Rosamund Kelby
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Movie and show review

Natasha Furlong

High-RIse

★★★★★

Certificate

UPG121518 title=

Links

TwitterFacebookWebsite

Special event

  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • Outside the Wire
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • You Me at Six – Suckapunch
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • The Queen’s Gambit: A chess story that’s not about the moves but the motives
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • An interview with Ifrah Ismael: Tales from the Front Line and other stories
    Theatre
  • Sleaford Mods – Spare Ribs
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Female filmmakers lead nominees for the London Critics’ Circle Film Awards
    Cinema
  • Persian Lessons: Exclusive new clip
    Cinema
  • Jeremiah Fraites: Piano Piano
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Quo Vadis, Aida?
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • Lonely the Brave – The Hope List
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • WandaVision: Marvel’s charming sitcom proves an astounding success
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • The Queen’s Gambit: A chess story that’s not about the moves but the motives
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • Undercover at Morpheus Show Online
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Ten short literary collections to get you back into reading
    Literature
  • Mayor
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

London Film Festival 2015: Trumbo | Review
Trumbo premiere: A chat with Bryan Cranston and Helen Mirren on the red carpet in London