THE DARKEST MINDS Review – Good Acting Can’t Save This Trainwreck
Jonathan Barkan
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Starring Amandla Stenberg, Harris Dickinson, Skylan Brooks, Miya Cech, Mandy Moore
Written by Chad Hodge
Directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson
There was a period where young adult novels were getting turned into movies left and right. It was the age of Twilight, The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, Divergent, and the like. Most certainly built off the back of the success of the Harry Potter franchise, these types of films either worked or they didn’t. Some resonated while others faltered. Some went on to become cultural juggernauts while others couldn’t even finish their run. Why certain titles had the magical touch and others didn’t is something for others to speculate. All I know is that The Darkest Minds will surely fall into the latter group.
Set in a future America, Ruby Daly (Stenberg) is one of a handful of children that have survived a pandemic that specifically targeted children. Those who remain are somehow imbued with superhero-like abilities, from telekinesis to radical intelligence, and more. Classified by colors, Ruby is an “Orange”, one of the most powerful kinds of children. Sent to a rehabilitation camp at a young age, she is broken out several years later by a doctor (Moore) who is secretly part of a rebellion and joins up with three stray children (Dickinson, Brooks, Cech) as they seek out a refuge for their kind, all the while pursued by bounty hunters and rebel factions.
Ham-fisted and clunky, The Darkest Minds is a hodgepodge of interesting ideas that weren’t allowed to simmer long enough so that all the flavors could meld together. Jerky editing jumps from one cut to another while terrible, and distracting, licensed song choices overlay scenes that would’ve benefited from original compositions.
The acting of the four main children is quite strong but the script they have to work with is cheesy, schmaltzy, and bereft of subtlety. Every scene is entirely predictable, the twists able to be seen a mile away. The only unpredictable moment is a gross attempted sexual assault that serves no purpose whatsoever in the grand scheme of the story, especially considering that we see the insidious nature of the assaulter prior to the event as well as the fruition of his evil plan mere minutes after the attack.
What could’ve been a clever metaphor for racial injustice, dismissal of new ideas, and fear of future generations is instead distilled down to a simple, saccharine film that is both maddening for its failings while being entirely forgettable. On more than one occasion I found myself committing one of the cardinal sins of movie-going: checking my watch.
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The Darkest Minds
Summary
Boring, predictable, uneven, and clunky, The Darkest Minds is simply not worth the money or time.
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