With Mind Bullets

I’m not going to act like the found footage genre has spontaneously disappeared in recent years. You’ll still get these kinds of movies showing up from time to time, usually over in the horror space with the likes of Paranormal Activity still cranking out films pretty regularly (and eighth film in that series is coming in 2027). But there was a time when the found footage format felt new and interesting and every film wanted to tap into it, and that really reached its zenith in the late 2000s and early 2010s.

You can really thank the one-two punch of Cloverfield and the first Paranormal Activity for that. Both films were produced on the relative cheap (Cloverfield for about $30 Mil and Paranormal Activity for an absolutely tiny $215 K) and they both ended doing very well at the Box Office (each closing in on $200 Mil before ending their runs). They proved there was life in the found footage format and every studio wanted to have their own film in the format out in theaters to give audiences, apparently, what they craved.

Most of those films were horror, as that was what proved to be successful (and also just from the fact that horror is one of the cheapest genres to produce, in general). But then along came Chronicle in 2012, which took the found footage format and put it into something else entirely: a sci-fi, superhero story. Written by Max Landis and directed by Josh Trank, the film was made on a budget of $15 Mil and went on to make $126.6 Mil during its run, a solid hit. What it showed was that audiences really did love the format, and they were willing to watch stories outside the horror genre, so long as those stories were interesting. Chronicle provided something interesting and different, and for a time it seemed like it could usher in something new, not just for the genre but also for the guys that helmed the film.

Chronicle focuses on Andrew Detmer (Dane DeHaan) who, with just a little money he had scraped together, just bought a video camera so he could record his life. His mother is dying, and his father (Michael Kelly) is an abusive asshole who has been slowly drinking himself to death. The video camera functions as a kind of release for Andrew, not just a way to document the abuse he receives but also so he can view it from a reserve and maybe try to figure out his place in his own life.

Dragged to a party by his cousin, Matt Garetty (Alex Russell), Andrew ends up following Matt and his friend (and student class president), Steve Montgomery (Michael B. Jordan), out into the woods nearby where they discover a pit in the ground. They go in and explore it and what they find deep inside is some kind of tech, like an alien spaceship. It emits a loud noise, the boys all pass out, and then we pick up with them a few weeks later where, as we learn, they have all developed telekinetic powers. They start to experiment with them, using them to do tricks and gain more power, but while Matt and Steve largely want to regulate themselves and use the powers for good, Andrew has other plans…

At its core, Chronicle is an origin story. We assume, once the boys get their powers, it’s an origin story for a group of superheroes but (and spoilers for a fourteen year old film), what we’re really getting is a tale of the coming of age of a villain. Andrew has problems, not just at home but at school as well where he’s the weird kid everyone picks on. He’s depressed, pretty much hating everyone around him except for Matt and Steve, and it doesn’t take much for him to turn on them as well. And that’s the trick: once he’s willing to turn his back on the only two people that show themselves to be his friends, there’s really nothing holding him back from using his powers for whatever personal gain he can think of.

Credit where it’s due, Dane DeHaan is well cast in the role of Andrew. He’s a scuzzy, creepy guy that no one likes, and he can see how it is that this sad kid really just needs support, friendship, and love, things he’s lacking. DeHaan plays his pain and hurt really well, giving Andrew a soulful quality that makes you want to care about him. But he’s also just dark enough that when the inevitable twist comes and he goes bad, you can instantly see it. This turn was there all along, just brewing beneath the surface, and the powers he gained finally let him find the power he was looking for all along.

If we’re going to highlight anyone, though, then we have to turn to Michael B. Jordan. He’s the third man in this trio of super-teens, and he steals every scene he’s in. There isn’t really a lot to Steve as a character, but Jordan sells it for all he’s worth, effectively becoming the charismatic lead of the film. It’s to such a point that (spoilers again) when his character dies at the end of the second act, presaging every dark thing to come, the film feels empty without him. It’s like Chronicle runs out of steam the second Jordan’s character exits, stage right.

I think that speaks to the biggest issue with Chronicle: when it’s not a film about three guys learning their powers and having fun, it ends up being kind of a drag. Sure, the film has to tell a story, and that means documenting the highs and lows of these characters, but it’s pretty clear early on that Andrew is a troubled kid and if any of them were to head down the villain route, it would be him. The film doesn’t try to hide it or do anything unexpected, and it feels weaker for it. A better twist would have been letting Steve do bad while Andrew finds the good within to fight back but Chronicle isn’t that smart of a movie.

In fact, at times it’s outright stupid. This is supposed to be found footage, a documentation of the cameras that caught the action, after the fact. And yet, on more than one occasion the film gives us footage from a camera that gets lost or destroyed, meaning there would have been no way for this footage to be “found” afterwards. We’re seeing the story in the moment, but the film betrays its own setup such that it would have been better if the film hadn’t even tried to be found footage at all. Instead of straining with all its cameras, all its setups, trying to explain how everything is documented, it could have been a more normal coming of age (with powers) story and probably been stronger for it.

Still, there is a spark to the film that makes it watchable, even if only from time to time. This isn’t a film I seek out as it’s dark and depressing and really does fall apart in its last act. But there’s just enough interesting material, especially with all three guys hanging out and experimenting with their powers, that it is an interesting film to watch once, and then maybe revisit years later just to remind yourself what it was like. I can understand why this film was successful when it came out (especially as it tapped into the found footage genre) but I also get why people don’t discuss it much anymore. It had its time, and then the genre moved on.

Director Josh Trank made his name with this film, and then Fox tapped him to direct their Fant4stic reboot. That was critically panned, and hated by audiences, but if we’re being honest, Trank wasn’t a good fit for the movie and Fox should have known that. They saw a guy that made a “superhero” film on the cheap and expected he could do the same for their big budget blockbuster. They misunderstood the director, while he clearly misunderstood the assignment, thinking they wanted another Chronicle instead of something bright and shiny. It was never going to work.

Max Landis, meanwhile, went on to write a few more films before getting embroiled in sexual harassment and assault controversies. He shared pretty ugly comments on women, and overall seems like an incel asshole. Going back and watching Chronicle, it’s hard not to see it here. Women aren’t characters in this film, they’re objects to be lusted after by the guys. None of the women in the film feel real, and they certainly don’t have their own agency. Chronicle cares about the dudes at the center of it all and doesn’t spare any thought for their girlfriends or other ladies in the school one bit. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, all things considered.

All of this, naturally, taints Chronicle further. What was a decent film that promised great things down the road ended up being this narrative cul-de-sac, not just for the film itself but also many attached. Really, the only person to come out of this film clean, using it as a real stepping stone for greater things, was Michael B. Jordan. He was great here, and his star has only continued to rise. Makes you think maybe they shouldn’t have killed his character off in act two. Then Chronicle could have been a much better film.