Season 1, Episode 13: Chronicle

January 31, 2022

An IndieWire article states Chronicle will have a sequel. The idea of a sequel would ruin Chronicle. The director, Josh Trank, said, “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.” The sequel takes place after ten years with an all-female cast is an awful idea. The chemistry between Matt, Steve, and Andrew makes Chronicle a criminally underrated masterpiece and a stand-alone movie.

The best attribute is Andrew develops from a social outcast to a menace. He suffers the internal conflict of dealing with his abusive father, sick mother, and bullies. Due to him carrying a camera, he has poor social skills and only talks to his cousin, Matt. The party scene creates a claustrophobic feeling with a crowded and loud area covered in neon lights showing he cannot adapt to social environments. A man poured water on the camera for him to film his girlfriend. The buildup of his journey to villain hood is well-paced. In the beginning, he causes a truck to crash and hospitalize the driver. Matt and Steve are upset over the crash, but he does not understand their anger. He emotionlessly kills a spider perfectly foreshadows his apex predator belief. Since he believes stronger animals have no remorse for killing the weaker animals, he can attack and rob innocent people unprovoked. His beating up his father is satisfying yet horrifying. While he stands up for himself, he becomes more aggressive and stronger.

The cinematography is fantastic due to the usage of found footage. Each footage shows every viewpoint and emotion to an event. Matt and Steve are the most realistic teenagers in fiction. Matt, Steve, and Andrew see the tunnel and want to explore, except Andrew, an introvert. Steve is the first to explore, showing his adventurous side. They use their telekinesis to prank people and build legos. Besides Andrew, they use their powers for fun instead of changing their lives. The talent show allows the audience to understand the high school environment. The students cheer for the pop singers but mock the opera singer because they insult behaviors outside the norm. The scene demonstrates Andrew would remain as a social outcast. After using his telekinesis, he performs a successful magic show making him popular. He is about to have sex with Monica, but he embarrasses himself by throwing up on her.

Andrew’s father is a more complex character. Even though he does not develop, he has the faults of poor anger management and alcohol addiction. He is unable to afford medication because of his injury, causing him to lose his firefighter job. In the hospital, he feels guilt for not staying with his dying wife. He blames Andrew for the tragedy and can manage his anger by abusing his son. Steve has the most tragic death. After arguing with his father, Andrew flies during a storm, but Steve tries to get him down. Since his father states Steve and Matt are not his friends, Andrew claims nobody cares for him. As Steve tries to reason with Andrew, Andrew accidentally kills him. The guilt caused Andrew to stop talking to Matt.

The conflict creates high tension. The third act starts from the viewpoint of Casey. Since Casey is powerless, she becomes vulnerable to Andrew. At first, she does not understand the reason for Matt panicking. Before Casey and Matt go to the hospital, there are oncoming dangers as police block the roads and surround the hospital. Andrew is at his strongest, causing a helicopter to crush and lift a car to the sky. Matt is too weak to stop the car from moving or open the doors. As the car falls, the viewpoint of Casey allows the audience to experience a close death encounter. The bystanders filming the fight between Matt and Andrew show the damages and risk of lives. Matt killing Andrew is the saddest moment since he does not want to hurt Andrew and tries to help him. As Andrew hurts bystanders and policies, he believes in killing Andrew to protect humanity. The resolution is bittersweet as Matt tries to prevent anyone from getting his powers and uses them to help people. Chronicle has three principal flaws. Matt brings the idea of Authur Schopenhauer, a philosopher who states humans recognize themselves as pure will since all desires never are fulfilled. The detail could be interesting for future plot points, but none of the characters share their desire. The flying scene is too long. The purpose is to introduce flight as a power that could be shortened to thirty seconds. Casey is useless. Her existence is to provide another camera angle because she is a blogger. Her interaction with Matt is dull because she flirts with him even though they never have a romantic interaction.

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