From out of left field comes this PG-13 thriller that breathes new life into the found-footage formula which has become so popular in the dozen or so years since The Blair Witch Project. Like a marriage of Cloverfield and Carrie, Chronicle blends its faux-naif techniques with a teen telekinesis plot to create something that feels fresh and authentic. Add in the facts that the three young lead actors are all relative unknowns and that the director is a first-timer and it seems as though Chronicle is going to deliver on all the viral buzz it’s been generating. At any rate, 20th Century Fox seems confident enough in its product to release it amid the distracting ruckus of Super Bowl weekend.
Max Landis (son of John) wrote the screenplay from a story idea hatched by director Joshua Trank and himself. The three central characters are all familiar types in the teen film universe. Andrew (DeHaan) is the shy and withdrawn one who is bullied at school and traumatized at home by his abusive father and dying mother. He is the one that purchases a camcorder at the beginning of the film to “chronicle” his dull life. Andrew’s only buddy is his cousin Matt (Russell), whose seeming cool masks the usual postadolescent insecurities. Steve (Jordan) is an outgoing and popular guy, a shoo-in for class president. They become a threesome when, by happenstance, Matt and Steve discover a weird sinkhole that opens into a cave and induce Andrew to descend into it with them and his camera. Once inside, they discover some kind of Fortress of Solitude-like hub with a light show and a crystal that apparently bestows upon them the gift of telekinesis.
Boys being boys, the group employs its new powers in prankish endeavors: moving objects around in a shopping mall and messing with people’s minds. Then they discover they can control their own bodies and begin flying like supermen, but instead of searching out evildoers, they bound through the clouds like wish-fulfilled kids chasing a football. There’s no kindly adult around them to teach “with great power comes great responsibility,” so before long, troubled Andrew starts using his newfound abilities in selfish and destructive ways. By the end of the film, most of their home town of Seattle lies in ruin – the result of Andrew’s hubris (yes, that’s the word they use) and third-act retribution against all who done him wrong.
Then there’s also the nosebleeds the boys experience when their powers get too fierce, which calls to mind Carrie’s gym shower taunts to “plug it up” when her menstrual blood first unleashes her telekinetic abilities. Chronicle knows its forebears but manages to reconfigure some of them and get the whole teenage gestalt just right. Andrew’s realization that he can control his camera with his mind allows us to see its grainy, shaky footage from a vantage point that could only be otherwise explained by a fourth participant. Chronicle may go over the top with its climax, but for such a giddy film, it’s remarkably down to earth.
This article appears in February 3 • 2012.
