In director Ben Wheatley’s most polished film to date, Dr. Robert Laing (Tom Hiddleston) moves into a state-of-the-art, revolutionary apartment complex. Set in 1975 with an other-worldly, futuristic feel, this high-rise reaches forty stories into the sky, nearly touching the tips of the clouds. The building is structured in a literal sense, housing the working class on the bottom floors, the middle class in the center, and so on, reserving the top floors for only the most wealthy of occupants. At first, it appears that this massive infrastructure is an ideal place to make a home, as it provides breathtaking views, several convenient amenities, and wild, exciting parties attended by all floors. However, as time drags on, and the residents near the top become more and more egocentric and wasteful of their electricity and resources, those living beneath them begin to feel the repercussions of their selfish acts, and in their amplifying desperation, begin to revolt.
Based on the J.G. Ballard novel, High-Rise is a fascinating portrayal of the stresses that come with defining people by their socioeconomic status. Like a vertical Snowpiercer, dividing the apartment units into segmented stations where people are forcefully kept in their place and regarded only by their income interestedly exaggerates societal norms of identification in order to point out the cruelty of the cutthroat capitalist agenda, and how it stifles many from living simple, safe lives. It starts small, with Laing being kicked out of the same elite cocktail parties that he was once invited to, and swiftly festers into food shortages, power outages, and suicides, as the overconsumption by the rich leaves little behind for those living on the lower rungs of the complex. This film seeks to comment not only on how free enterprise is often only beneficial to a small percentage of the population, but on the standard practice of trickle-down economics, and the soullessness that comes to embody so many of the wealthy who no longer have to concern themselves with empathy for the rest of humanity.
Sitting comfortably on the tip top of the prosperous few on the fortieth floor is “The Architect”, the man who designed and owns this experimental structure. Although he devotes the majority of his time to working on the extension of his already impressive creation, when the riots below him erupt and the building begins to fall to shambles, he’s oddly complacent about the destruction of his precious assemblage. Likewise, the protagonist of the film, Dr. Laing, displays little in the way of emotion when the people he’s been trying to befriend betray him, despite the fact that he’s supposed to be the film’s emotional core. Even though he quickly develops a relationship with Toby, the little boy he lives one floor up from him, and reacts in an agitated manner when the boy brings up Laing’s recently deceased sister, he shows little more than a poker face when his hallways are filled with trash and his neighbors turn into murdering lunatics.
Strange, slow character development aside, High-Rise is filled with more noteworthy trademarks than it is setbacks. Wheatley has always been a master of capturing the most corrupt side of human nature, and displaying it in unabashed, surreal, refreshing perspectives (whether he paints them positively or negatively), and this film is no exception. His merciless depiction of the lonely few at the top includes rigid high fashion that would make attendees of a Gatsby party feel jealous, a detached woman who uses Laing for sex but wouldn’t dare dream of dating beneath her station, and even a spoiled woman riding a horse through her fairytale garden as she screams at her maid nearby on foot. However, his stylistic judgment isn’t just reserved for the ones who can afford to chug champagne like water. When the power cuts and the ill deeds done by those on the bottom are masked by darkness, a familiar character lowers himself from the actions of a perverted antagonist to those of an abusive madman. Everyone in this building is guilty of something, but they are all victims of the society that demands to rank them.
For a film that attempts to criticize the detrimental system that is society’s economic classes, mirrored by the positioning of the residents of the tower block, it’s odd how quickly the decline of life within the walls is scurried through. Although the beginning is slightly slow-paced to set up the parameters of the complex and the lives of those who fill it, and the ending is dragged out as well, the actual specific events that cause the descent into madness and the slow decay of it all are only illustrated in a brief, fleeting, albeit powerful montage. It would’ve been nice to see the middle of the story stretched out and the bookends whittled down to create a more balanced, understandable and accurately metaphorical plot line to follow. However, despite its few shortcomings, High-Rise is an excellent adaptation that once again proves that Ben Wheatley is one of the most fascinating photographers working in film today; one who’s worthy of working with great, well-known actors, and capable of helming ambitious, aesthetically stunning projects.