Found footage meets the superhero: that's the turf in Chronicle, an inventive little coming-of-age thriller about power, revenge and the dark side of human nature.
Chronicle is full of surprises in both event and character. First we meet a high school outcast named Andrew (Dane DeHaan), a kid with a rotten home life and an interest in film that just annoys his peers at school. Andrew has a video camera and he announces his intention to film everything as the movie begins. It drives his classmates crazy.
Andrew also has a bedridden mother and a drunken brute of a father.
Through his cousin Matt (Alex Russell), Andrew has a tentative link to the cool kids. And that includes Matt's friend Steve (Michael B. Jordan); these three young men are at the centre of the story.
At a rave, Matt and Steve stumble upon a strange crater in the ground and they enlist Andrew to come along and film their discovery. Thanks to the movie's found-footage style -- Andrew is shooting everything on video, remember? -- the next thing you see is all three guys a day later, throwing a baseball at each other ... using only their minds. They seem highly amused by their weird new ability. Whatever that crater in the ground exposed them to, they can now get up to amazing pranks with this telekinetic power. It's a lot of fun. It's innocent.
Until it isn't.
Andrew is the first to misuse his abilities. The others react by censuring his action. They need rules, says Matt, to keep these growing powers under control. Andrew is a loner, but he's a sensitive guy, and he seems to get the point. He's also enjoying a bit of newfound attention at school. Nothing like a few super powers to help you win at beer pong. And with the ladies.
It's all good.
Until it isn't.
Chronicle takes all the anger, loneliness and frustration of adolescent life and spins them into a dark sci-fi story of youthful power and payback. This is a low-ish budget film full of the unexpected: Fully three-dimensional characters, lovely humour, clever plot developments and terrific effects.
There's some nifty writing here, and the three leads bring it all to life with impressive performances. Nothing like a good story matched by good storytelling. Chronicle will surprise you, and in the best way.
The movie is a feature directorial debut from Josh Trank, who also co-wrote the film with Max Landis. Trank is the son of documentary filmmaker Richard Trank; Landis is the son of filmmaker John Landis.
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