High Life

High Life

Starring Robert Pattinson, Juliette Binoche, Andre Benjamin, Mia Goth
Directed by Claire Denis

Non-linear films are very polarizing to the moviegoing public, as they serve to do more than just offer a simplistic, simple escape from reality - it forces us to think about what we're seeing in a way that makes it become all the more personal, and all the more profound.  "High Life" is one of those films: it opens with a father lovingly doting on his infant daughter, which is shot to make it look like this is happening in any suburban home, until you see the father outside the spaceship doing some maintenance work.  Then you see him jettison several bodies from the ship, and the title screen finally appears, and what follows is a wild, nauseating, unflinching, and downright unnerving thrill ride that got us to this quiet, serene moment.

The film follows a group of convicts including Monte (Robert Pattinson), Dibbs (Juliette Binoche), Tchnery (Andre Benjamin), Boyse (Mia Goth), and others as they embark on a deep space mission to extract energy from a black hole (known as the Penrose process) in order to supply Earth with boundless energy.  Being convicts, they eventually turn on one another and perpetuate the theory that you can't totally change your own nature, especially in the very limited confines of space.  Yet there's still hope, as Monte advances the narrative by being the good guy who tends to his infant daughter that was born in space, and we see the logical transition to how it all came to be, all the while given some stunning visuals and shocking moments that resonate after the film ends.

Cinephiles are no stranger to director Claire Denis, but for the uninitiated she might come off as crass, raw, and sometimes offers almost unwatchable moments, but all are required to complete her unique narrative.  "High Life" is unique in that the script was organic - the original was a mere 30-page script that Denis continually edited as she cast the roles and allowed the actors to give their own input into their characters.  It's much more a collaborative effort than one person's thought process, and it's something that ebbs and flows throughout the film.  She uses stunning space imagery (including the black hole itself, which is as awe-inspiring as it is terrifying), and even more stunning internal imagery (there's a strong desire in the film to prove that an infant can be born in space, and the film is highly sexualized for that effect, without coming off as pornographic or gratuitous, but still offers some very shocking moments) to get her point across, and boy does the point get across.

We've all done things in our youth we wish we could forget, and hate it when they're brought up years or decades later, and that's how I think Robert Pattinson must feel.  He keeps churning out expert performances but the only role most people know him for is that God-awful "Twilight" vampire that even he has disowned, and they refuse to see him do anything else because those films were so awful - and they're doing a great disservice to themselves.  Pattinson absolutely electrifies here as Monte, a convict who takes a vow of celibacy and is pretty much the common sense of the group, who also we experience this world through.  His performance is energetic and powerful with even just a look or expression in his eyes, as the film itself is rather minimal on dialogue, but he definitely gets his point across.  We see his character transform from a convict with nothing to loose to taking care of his daughter and realizing that there's something to live for, and how he treats his infant daughter (who's the real-life daughter of one of his good friends) makes it all the more profound.
Then there's Juliette Binoche, who's Dibs is basically Nurse Ratched meets Doctor Ruth in space, as she coldly uses several of the convicts for the sole purpose of reproduction, and clearly doesn't care about anyone's well being despite being the doctor.  She calculatedly uses the men's pent-up sexual aggression and the women's lack of desire to have children to pit them against one another as well as her own sexual desires that come to fruition in very shocking ways.  Binoche plays evil incarnate here and she nails it with ease and perfection.

While the film centers on the evils of humankind as the convicts slowly turn on one another, there's also the goodness in life as we get Monte's relationship with his infant daughter and cares for her in a way that's wholesome, natural, and even unremarkable in the most remarkable way.  The setting allows both good and evil to surface in extreme levels since it takes place in a very small, confined, sterilized location where you can't help but feel as isolated as the characters do, and cabin fever runs rampant.  The violence is also elevated and extreme, wholly unique and visually captivating as you see the convicts die and in some cases get literally ripped apart, but it doesn't feel unnecessary, but rather an outcome of what is happening.  The story is written so that we become experiential in the process; not watching things happen but feeling like we're a part of it as well.  It doesn't spoon-feed us every bit of information, but allows our minds to wander and wonder about the events we just witnessed, and almost requires us to talk about it afterward - and that's the hallmark of an exceptional film.

A unique, dazzling, and downright unnerving non-linear journey, "High Life" contains unforgettable imagery and profound performances that require deep thought and allows the viewer to really experience this claustrophobic world and the characters who reside in it.

The Score: A+