Summary
With the number of movies that come out every year, it is common for smaller projects to be overshadowed by blockbusters and big-budget productions. One such hidden gem isHigh-Rise, a 2015 dystopian drama-thriller with science fiction elements, starring Tom Hiddleston. Set in a luxury skyscraper in 1975, the film presents an unsettling atmosphere as the residents of the building descend into chaos. While it was pretty divisive and flopped at the box office, it received mixed but generally favorable reviews, earning 4 out of 5 stars on The Telegraph, 7.0 out of 10 on IGN, and a 60% on Rotten Tomatoes. It is certain to leave an impression on those who enter its unsettling world.
Tom Hiddleston became an international sensation right at the start of his film career. He is best known forhis portrayal of Loki in the MCU, which began with the 2011 movieThor.He has continued playing this role for over a decade, completely changing the trajectory of his career. However, he has played a wide variety of characters besides the God of Mischief. One of his most underrated performances is his role inHigh-Rise, which is based on J.G. Ballard’s novel of the same name.
At the heart of the film stands Hiddleston’s performance as a man who gradually succumbs to the chaos unfolding around him. A significant departure from some of the roles he had played earlier on, it is a complex role in a film with a dark, ambiguous theme that allowed Hiddlestonto showcase his talent and versatility.
Screenplay by Amy Jump, based on the novelHigh-Riseby J.G. Ballard
Release date
119 minutes
Box office
$4.1 million
Set in a dystopian world in 1975,High-Risetakes place in a luxurious residential skyscraper with multiple amenities, including a supermarket, a pool, a gym, and even a school.Life inside the building is supposed to be perfect, giving its residents little reason to want to leave. They are increasingly isolated from the outside world, becoming a society of their own. Each floor represents a different social class. The higher the floor, the more wealthy and elite a person is; the lower floors are home to the middle-class residents. Sucha disturbing class division system leads to chaos, and drives this little society to an anarchist revolution and a collective descent into madness. The film follows a man who moves into the building, as he comes to terms with its rules and witnesses the society he is now part of.
High-Risetouches on themes of isolation, class division, revolution, and the fragility of society. It features several surrealist and sci-fi elements, which help establish the skyscraper’s unsettling dystopian atmosphere. The film presents disturbing scenarios that gradually become more bizarre, in a way that mirrors the protagonist coming to understand the way this world works. It is anunderrated dystopian movie still unknown by many, but an important one regardless. It is also packed with social commentary, raising questions about class differences, societal norms, and the consequences of a system ruled by such strong divisions.
Who Does Tom Hiddleston Play In High-Rise?
Tom Hiddleston plays the film’s protagonist, Dr. Robert Laing. Laing is a physiologist who moves into the skyscraper, looking for a fresh start after the death of his sister. During the course of the story, he undergoes an internal transformation. He starts out asa quiet and introspective manseeking peace and solitude. However, his psychological state deteriorates as he gets involved in relationships and rivalries within the building, and adapts to the disturbing dynamics of the high-rise society.In an interview with Esquire, Tom Hiddleston stated that, due to the character’s profession, Laing is able to withdraw emotionally from the impact of the frightening events happening around him:
The most fascinating thing for me was that Laing is reactive, whereas other people are proactive. He’s quiet and watchful, while the other inhabitants are sliding into a kind of chaos. […] He’s a character who has a lot of private guilt and shame. He’s moved into this building to get away from the complexities of life. He’s trying to stay detached, and he actually can’t. It’s all about his unprocessed guilt. There’s a lot of guilt going around, he’s trying to get away from real life. He wants to live in a grey flat and wear a grey suit and not be affected.
Dr. Robert Laing is a morally ambiguous character, who appears to be the middle ground in the ongoing conflict.He spends a majority of the story as an observer, rather than engaging in the destruction and violence himself. He has interests on both sides and refuses to pick one. Instead, he lies to himself, attempting to change whatever he can within his own space, although he is aware that doing so is not going to fix the overall problem in any way.High-Riseis mostly seen through Laing’s perspective, and the audience becomes familiar and experiences the chaos unfolding in the building alongside him.
How Does High-Rise End?
After the disturbing societal hierarchy is presented, a series of events leads to things quickly going downhill in the building, and the true revolution begins. The glamorous and luxurious locations get destroyed, the residents’ survival instincts kick in, and most of them succumb to the chaos and engage in less-than-ethical behavior. The building becomes a literal battleground, and Laing finds himself surrounded by an explosion of sex, drugs, violence, and death. After all the chaos and destruction, Laing, who appears to have gone insane, makes his way to the penthouse. There, heencounters the disturbing and surreal aftermathof the class war.
High-Risedirector Ben Wheatley explained Laing’s mostly passive behavior throughout the filmin an interview with No Film School:
You’re defined in your life by not what you say, or all this noise that everybody makes about their opinions, but by when you’ve got a chance to do something and you do it. I think the protagonist just slips through the net. […] He does the minimum that he needs to do, and he finds a way of surviving where he doesn’t completely commit to anything or cause any trouble. Which is pretty despicable. That’s when you know whether you’ve succeeded or failed as a human being. It’s kind of like, “all right, that’s who I am.”
The ending ofHigh-Risetakes viewers back to where it started, with Laing in the penthouse balcony, roasting a dog’s leg. He then goes back inside and shares a piece with Charlotte (Sienna Miller), a single mother with whom he develops a relationship throughout the film. They reflect about everything that happened, andconclude that it will inevitably happen again. Outside, Charlotte’s son, Toby (Louis Suc), who has created a radio tower, listens to a broadcast by Margaret Thatcher, who declares that there will never be political freedom as long as there is state capitalism.
I think society is an illusion and that we all invest in it and hope that it won’t go wrong. When it does go wrong for a lot of people, we kind of go, “Oh, well that’s just tough luck what happened to them, and it won’t happen to me.” And then eventually it does. […] And the society will always come to an end in one way or another, and often does in your own lifetime. You just don’t quite notice it.
While the film’s absurdist style may make the premise appear meaningless at first glance, the message about the collapse of society is presented loud and clear.High-Riseis an impactful experience, and while it may not be for everybody, it is a must-watch for fans of Tom Hiddleston’s work and anyone who enjoys the dystopian genre.
