HIGH RISE

Dr. Robert Laing (Tom Hiddleston, who played Loki, brother of Thor in The Avengers) moves into a generic, soulless concrete high rise, where he hopes to find peace and quiet. But in this microcosm of a decaying society, the residents (among them Jeremy Irons, Sienna Miller and Elisabeth Moss of Mad Men fame) see things differently. Violence, chaos, criminality, destruction. Behind the building’s walls, things are on the verge of imploding, turning into a war zone, a vicious battleground for a wrenching class war.

After Kill List, Sightseers and A Field in England, the talented cult-favourite director from England is back with an eagerly anticipated film, adapted from a classic novel by another cult favourite, J.G. Ballard. Obsessive, sick and politically charged, High-Rise is undoubtedly the perfect project for Ben Wheatley. It is a given that it takes a ton of courage and ambition to put Ballard on the big screen. Cronenberg succeeded with Crash, Spielberg did it with Emperor of the Sun, and Jonathan Weiss with the deeply strange Atrocity Exhibition, but many more have failed. If you’re like us, you can’t wait to see what the enfant terrible of English cinema has accomplished. − Julien Fonfrède