Chronicle (film)

''Chronicle'' is a 2012 American found footage superhero thriller film directed by Josh Trank with a screenplay by Max Landis from a story they both co-wrote. It follows three Seattle high school seniors, bullied Andrew (Dane DeHaan), his cousin Matt ( Alex Russell), and more popular Steve (Michael B. Jordan), who form a bond after gaining telekinetic powers from an unknown object and using them for fun, although Andrew begins going down a darker path.

''Chronicle'' premiered at the Gérardmer Film Festival on January 28, 2012, and released in the United States on February 3, 2012 by 20th Century Fox. The film grossed $126.6 million at the international box office, against a budget of $15 million. The film received generally positive reviews with praise for the premise, and received a nomination for Best Science Fiction Film at the 39th Saturn Awards.

Plot

Friendless Seattle teenager Andrew Detmer endures frequent abuse from bullies and his alcoholic father, Richard, while also coping with his loving mother Karen's battle with cancer. He begins to videotape his life. His cousin, Matt Garetty, invites him to a party to help him mingle, but his filming causes an altercation with an attendee who throws his drink in Andrew's face. Popular student Steve Montgomery finds a crying Andrew outside the party, and asks him to come record a large hole he and several partygoers came across in the woods. Accompanied by a drunken Matt, they journey through a small tunnel where they discover a glowing crystalline object, which causes inexplicable phenomena as they approach it. As the object begins to react violently, Matt is thrown backwards against a wall by an unseen force, Steve develops a nosebleed and the camera shorts out.

Weeks later, Andrew, Matt, and Steve have developed telekinetic abilities. They develop a close friendship, using their abilities to play and record pranks, which goes too far after Andrew telekinetically pushes a motorist off the road and into a nearby pond. After the trio barely manage to save the man's life, Matt realizes how dangerous their powers can be and insists that they restrict use of them, particularly against living beings or when they are angry. This traumatic event marks the first turning point in the film, specifically through the eyes of Andrew.

After discovering they can fly, the friends agree to fly around the world together following graduation, with Andrew in particular desiring to visit Tibet because of its peaceful nature. Steve encourages Andrew to enter the school talent show, where the latter amazes his fellow students by disguising his powers as a magic act. Andrew relishes his newfound popularity at a house party, but the night ends in disaster when a drunken Andrew goes upstairs to have sex with a classmate who he subsequently vomits on. Steve, who has taken over the camera from Matt after the latter leaves the party with an old flame, films the aftermath of the incident as an angry and humiliated Andrew yells on.

As Karen's condition worsens, Andrew becomes increasingly withdrawn and aggressive. When Richard strikes him during an argument, Andrew violently repels him and flees the house. Steve and Matt suffer nosebleeds—indicating when the others are overexerting their powers—and Steve flies out to find Andrew sobbing in the middle of a storm. He attempts to console him, but Andrew becomes increasingly frustrated before Steve is suddenly struck by lightning and killed. Some days later, Andrew denies responsibility when confronted by Matt at Steve's funeral, but privately begs for forgiveness at Steve's grave the next day, believing that his powers are taking over him and he misses him.

Due to the incident at the party as well as Steve's death, Andrew's relationship with Matt grows strained and he is once again ostracized at school. After using his powers to rip teeth out of a bully's mouth in front of a crowd of other students when he is taunted about the party, Andrew begins to identify as an apex predator and rationalizes that he should not feel guilty for using his powers to hurt those weaker than him. Desperate to pay for his mother's medication, Andrew disguises himself with his father's firefighter gear and uses his powers to steal money. While robbing a gas station, he inadvertently causes an explosion that puts him in the hospital. At his bedside, a distraught Richard informs an unconscious Andrew that Karen has died and angrily blames Andrew for her death. As his father is about to strike him, Andrew awakens and abruptly grabs his arm before blowing out the wall of the room.

Elsewhere, while at a birthday party, Matt experiences a severe nosebleed and senses Andrew is in trouble. Seeing a news alert on TV about a mysterious explosion downtown, he and his girlfriend, Casey, head to the hospital. As they arrive on scene, Andrew flies out of the hospital room, dangling his father before unceremoniously dropping him. Matt flies up and saves Richard, lowering him to the ground, before attempting to reason with Andrew. However, Andrew is too far gone in his rage and attacks Matt. Their fight takes them across the city, crashing through buildings and hurling vehicles. Eventually, the two exhaust themselves and wind up in a plaza where police surround them. Andrew's rage reaches a breaking point and he begins to destroy the buildings around him. Realizing that Andrew can't be stopped or reasoned with, Matt reluctantly impales Andrew with a spear from a nearby statue, killing him instantly. Despite his injuries, Matt is able to fly away before the police can reach him.

Some time later, Matt lands in Tibet with Andrew's camera, tearfully apologizing to him and vowing to use his powers for good and find out what happened to them. He points the camera at a Tibetan monastery in the distance before flying away, leaving the camera behind.

Cast

* Dane DeHaan as Andrew Detmer
* Alex Russell as Matt Garetty
* Michael B. Jordan as Steve Montgomery
* Michael Kelly as Richard Detmer
* Ashley Hinshaw as Casey Letter
* Bo Petersen as Karen Detmer
* Anna Wood as Monica
* Rudi Malcolm as Wayne
* Luke Tyler as Sean
* Crystal-Donna Roberts as Samantha
* Adrian Collins as Costly
* Grant Powell as Howard
* Armand Aucamp as Austin
* Nicole Bailey as Cala

Production

Development

Josh Trank had conceived the idea for ''Chronicle'' in high school and spent the following years generating ideas for the film. Up-and-coming screenwriter Jeremy Slater had collaborated with Trank while working on an unmade spec script. By 2010, Slater had moved on, leading to Trank contacting Max Landis, who agreed to co-write the film. The first draft of the script was written in three weeks after Landis had pitched the film behind Trank's back. Trank's original draft had the character of Steve being hit by a plane and dying in the middle of the second act. Landis removed this from his revisions, which "solved the entire second act". 20th Century Fox bought the rights to the project and greenlit the film with Trank serving as director in January 2011.

Production

For budgetary reasons, the film was shot primarily in Cape Town, South Africa, with Film Afrika Worldwide, as well as in Vancouver, Canada. Trank cited the films '' Akira'', '' Carrie'' and '' The Fury'' as influences on ''Chronicle''. Filming started in May 2011 and continued for eighteen weeks, ending in August 2011. Cinematographer Matthew Jensen used the Arri Alexa video camera to shoot the film and Angenieux Optimo and Cook s4 lenses. Postproduction techniques were used to give it a "found footage" look. A cable cam rig was used for a shot in which the character Andrew levitates his camera 120 feet into the air. The Arri Alexa camera was mounted on a skateboard to simulate Andrew's camera sliding across a floor. Stuntmen were suspended from crane wire rigs for flying scenes, with green screen special effects used for closeups of the actors. Andrew's video camera in the movie is a Canon XL1 MiniDV, and he later switches to an HD camera that resembles a Canon Vixia HF M30. His "Seattle" bedroom is actually a set that was constructed on a film studio stage in Cape Town. Because in South Africa, vehicles drive on the left side of the road and have steering wheels on the right side, American-style vehicles had to be shipped in for the production. DVD dailies were provided to the director and cinematographer by the Cape Town firm HD Hub.

According to Josh Trank, Max Landis was banned from set during production and Trank has not spoken to him since 2012. Trank confirmed this on Twitter in light of Landis' sexual and emotional abuse accusations.

Release

''Chronicle'' opened in 2,907 theaters in the United States and Canada on February 3, 2012. Box office watchers expected the film to gross $15 million for its opening weekend, the Super Bowl weekend, while Fox projected to receive around $8 million. By its first day the film had earned an estimated $8.65 million and finished the weekend as the top film with $22 million, surpassing '' The Woman in Black'' ($21 million) and '' The Grey'' ($9.5 million) to become the fourth-highest Super Bowl debut. ''Chronicle'' opened as a number one hit internationally, opening in 33 foreign markets such as Australia, China, and the United Kingdom, where it earned the most with $3.5 million. The film grossed $64.6 million in the United States and Canada, and $62 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $126.6 million. ''Chronicle'' was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on May 15, 2012. The film was released on DVD and a special "Lost Footage" edition for Blu-ray, which contains additional footage that was not shown in theaters.

Reception

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of based on reviews and an average rating of . The site's critical consensus reads, "''Chronicle'' transcends its found-footage gimmick with a smart script, fast-paced direction, and engaging performances from the young cast." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 69 out of 100 based on reviews from 31 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.

''Chicago Sun-Times'' film critic Roger Ebert gave the film three and a half stars out of four, saying, "From hedeceptively ordinary beginning, Josh Trank's ''Chronicle'' grows into an uncommonly entertaining movie that involves elements of a superhero origin story, a science-fiction fantasy and a drama about a disturbed teenager.” ''Empire'' critic Mark Dinning gave the film four stars out of five, saying that it is "a stunning superhero/sci-fi that has appeared out of nowhere to demand your immediate attention." ''Total Film'' gave the film a five-star review (denoting 'outstanding'): "Believable then bad-ass, it isn't wholly original but it does brim with emotion, imagination and modern implication." Peter Travers of ''Rolling Stone'' wrote: "Despite a gimmicky premise, ''Chronicle'' fuels its action with characters you can laugh with, understand and even take to heart." Peter Debruge of ''Variety'' wrote: "Unlike other mock documentaries, which unconvincingly pass themselves off as real, ''Chronicle'' cleverly embraces the format as shorthand for a new kind of naturalism, inviting audiences to suspend disbelief and join in the fantasy of being able to do anything with their minds." Todd McCarthy of ''The Hollywood Reporter'' called it "A clever twist on superpowers and hand-held filmmaking that stumbles before the ending."

On the negative side, Andrew Schenker of '' Slant Magazine'' gave the film two stars out of four, saying that the film, "offers up little more than a tired morality play about the dangers of power, rehashing stale insights about the narcissism of the documentary impulse."

Awards

The film was nominated for Best Science Fiction Film at 39th Saturn Awards, but lost to '' The Avengers''.

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, Golden Trailer Award for Best in Show
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, IGN Summer Movie Award for Best Sci-Fi Movie
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, IGN Summer Movie Award for Best Movie Poster
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, Golden Schmoes Awards for Breakthrough Performance of the Year
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Future

Following its successful release, steps toward production of a sequel were taken. Fox hired Landis to write the script for it, but the involvement of Trank as director was unclear. It was reported in October 2012 that Fox was not happy with the script, but in April 2013, Landis said that Fox liked the script—which would be darker in tone—and production was moving along. However, in July 2013, Landis stated that new writers had taken over to write the film, and in March 2014, Fox hired Jack Stanley to write.

Trank commented in 2020 that following the experience of making ''Chronicle'', he was never on board with a sequel. While he thought the sequel script was "fine", he felt that it had "nothing to do with why I wanted to do" the original film, and he did what he could to stall progress on it. "I really didn't ever want to see ''Chronicle 2'' happen. That was my worst nightmare. First of all, I'm not doing it. Second, if somebody else does it, then you know it's gonna be a piece of shit."

In August 2021, a female-led sequel was officially announced by producer John Davis. It would supposedly be set 10 years after the events of the first film and deal with topics such as fake news and coverups.

See also

* '' Carrie'', the first published novel by Stephen King
* '' Akira'', a manga series that was adapted into an anime film of the same name
* ''Modern Problems'', a 1981 dark comedy film where a man is granted the power of telekinesis after a phenomenon event

References

External links

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2012 films
2012 action thriller films
2010s coming-of-age films
2012 science fiction action films
2010s science fiction thriller films
2010s superhero films
American action thriller films
American coming-of-age films
American science fiction action films
American science fiction thriller films
American superhero films
2010s English-language films
Camcorder films
2012 directorial debut films
Films about bullying
Films about cancer
Films about child abuse
Films about dysfunctional families
Films about school bullying
Films set in Seattle
Films set in 2012
Films shot in South Africa
Films shot in Vancouver
Found footage films
Teen superhero films
Films about telekinesis
20th Century Fox films
Davis Entertainment films
Dune Entertainment films
Films directed by Josh Trank
Films with screenplays by Max Landis
Supervillain films
2010s American films