''The Darkest Minds'' is a 2018 American
dystopian
A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...
science fiction film
Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial lifeforms, spacecraft, robots, cyborgs, interstellar ...
directed by
Jennifer Yuh Nelson
Jennifer Yuh Nelson ( Yuh; born May 7, 1972) is a South Korean-born American story artist, character designer, television director, illustrator, and film director. She is best known for directing the films ''Kung Fu Panda 2'', ''Kung Fu Panda 3' ...
and written by
Chad Hodge
Chad Hodge (born 1977) is an American writer and producer who created drama series '' Runaway'' (2006), '' The Playboy Club'' (2011), '' Wayward Pines'' (2015), and '' Good Behavior'' (2016). He wrote the Broadway stage adaptation of Irving Berlin ...
. Based on
Alexandra Bracken
Alexandra Bracken (born 27 February 1987) is a The New York Times Best Seller list, #1 ''New York Times'' bestselling American author known for ''The Darkest Minds'' series and ''Passenger'' series.
Early life
Alexandra Bracken was born in Phoeni ...
's 2012
young adult novel
Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults.
The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...
of the
same name, it was produced by
Shawn Levy
Shawn Adam Levy (born July 23, 1968) is a Canadian film director, film producer, actor, and founder of 21 Laps Entertainment. He has worked across genres and is perhaps best known as the director of the ''Night at the Museum'' film franchise an ...
and
Dan Levine
Daniel S. Levine is an American film producer. He is best known for producing the critically acclaimed film '' Arrival'' (2016) that earned him an Academy Award for Best Picture nomination with Shawn Levy, Aaron Ryder, and David Linde.
Filmogra ...
. The film stars
Amandla Stenberg
Amandla Stenberg (born October 23, 1998) is an American actress. She was included in ''Time''s list of Most Influential Teens in both 2015 and 2016, and has received several accolades, including a Teen Choice Award, an NAACP Image Award, and n ...
,
Harris Dickinson
Harris Dickinson (born 24 June 1996) is an English actor. He began his career with a starring role in the drama ''Beach Rats'' (2017), for which he was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead. He has since played John Paul ...
,
Mandy Moore
Amanda Leigh Moore (born April 10, 1984) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to fame with her debut single, "Candy", which peaked at number 41 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Her debut studio album, '' So Real'' (1999), recei ...
and
Gwendoline Christie
Gwendoline Tracey Philippa Christie (born 28 October 1978) is an English actress who is best known for portraying Brienne of Tarth in the HBO fantasy-drama series ''Game of Thrones'' (2012–2019). She is also widely known for her role the Firs ...
. It follows a group of young children and teenagers who are on the run from the government after mysteriously obtaining superpowers.
On September 15, 2014, it was announced that
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
had bought the rights to the novel and that Levy would produce the film through his
21 Laps Entertainment
21 Laps Entertainment is an American film and television production company founded and run by director-producer Shawn Levy. The company is best known as the producers of ''Stranger Things'', and exclusively distributes content through a partner ...
. Stenberg was cast two years later on September 26, 2016 and principal photography began in April 2017 in
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
.
''The Darkest Minds'' was released in the United States on August 3, 2018, by 20th Century Fox. It received negative reviews from critics, with criticisms towards its acting, direction, screenplay, and "lack of personality." The film was also a
box-office bomb
A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...
, having grossed just $41.1 million worldwide against a $34 million budget.
Plot
In a dystopian future, a contagious disease called Idiopathic Adolescent Acute Neurodegeneration (IAAN) kills nearly 90 percent of all children and teenagers living in the United States, leaving the survivors with unusual abilities. These survivors with superpowers are imprisoned throughout the country. The children are divided into groups: Green (have increased intelligence), Blue (
telekinesis
Psychokinesis (from grc, ψυχή, , soul and grc, κίνησις, , movement, label=ㅤ), or telekinesis (from grc, τηλε, , far off and grc, κίνησις, , movement, label=ㅤ), is a hypothetical psychic ability allowing a person ...
), Yellow (can manipulate electricity), Red (can control fire), and Orange (have
telepathy
Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic W ...
and
mind control
Brainwashing (also known as mind control, menticide, coercive persuasion, thought control, thought reform, and forced re-education) is the concept that the human mind can be altered or controlled by certain psychological techniques. Brainwashin ...
capabilities). Ruby Daly is an Orange, which means she has the psionic ability to get into people's mind. Children that are Red and Orange are considered too dangerous with their powers and supposed to be killed instantly, but she touches the doctor who is classifying her and puts the thought in his head that she is a Green.
Six years later, Ruby is helped to escape her prison by a resistance group known as the Children's League to fight for her future. Cate, a worker at the camp, provides Ruby with a
panic button
A panic alarm is an electronic device that can easily be activated to request help during an emergency situation where danger to persons or property exists. It is designed to minimize time until assistance can arrive.
A panic alarm is freque ...
that can be activated as a tracker if she is in danger. When Ruby gets visions while touching Rob, another League member, she becomes suspicious of their intentions. Ruby makes her escape with a mute little girl named Suzume (Zu), a Yellow. Zu takes Ruby to Liam, a Blue, and his friend Charles (Chubs), a Green. The three agree to let Ruby join them as they try to make their way to "East River," a purported safe haven led by an Orange named the "Slip Kid."
The four enter an abandoned mall to gather supplies, where they cross paths with another group of survivors. The others know where East River is, but the only clue they reveal — due to the subtle influence of Ruby's power — are the letters "E.D.O.". Ruby eventually deduces that this is a
radio frequency
Radio frequency (RF) is the oscillation rate of an alternating electric current or voltage or of a magnetic, electric or electromagnetic field or mechanical system in the frequency range from around to around . This is roughly between the upp ...
, which reveals a transmission that East River is in Lake Prince, Virginia.
Journeying to East River, Ruby asks the group to drop her off at her former home in Salem, Virginia hoping she can reconcile with her parents. Seeing them through the glass door, she realizes she made them forget her and runs away. She meets up with Liam, who comforts her and they begin to develop a romantic connection, but Ruby refuses to touch him, fearing that her powers will hurt him. At East River, Slip Kid is revealed to be the president's son, Clancy Gray, who is an Orange. He teaches Ruby how to control her powers, and in return, has Ruby teach him how to erase people's memories. During this process, Clancy controls her mind and kisses her.
It is revealed that Clancy is using his powers to control the government, and wants to use his new memory-erasing powers to turn Ruby to his side and forget her friends, but she manages to escape with the others. Liam flees with all of the haven children, while Ruby faces off against Clancy, destroying the camp and making her escape with Chubs. Chubs is severely injured, leaving Ruby no choice but to use her panic button to call the League for help.
The League gets Chubs to a hospital and lets Zu leave with a protective family. Ruby convinces Cate to release Liam in return for taking his place as a soldier in the League. Knowing that Liam will never leave without her, Ruby kisses him and erases all of his memories of herself. Liam leaves the camp, while Ruby begins her training with her fellow powered children in the League. Elsewhere, Clancy looks over the
US Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
and government forces.
Cast
Production
On September 15, 2014, it was announced that
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
had bought the film rights to
Alexandra Bracken
Alexandra Bracken (born 27 February 1987) is a The New York Times Best Seller list, #1 ''New York Times'' bestselling American author known for ''The Darkest Minds'' series and ''Passenger'' series.
Early life
Alexandra Bracken was born in Phoeni ...
's young adult novel ''The Darkest Minds'', the first book in her The Darkest Minds series.
Shawn Levy
Shawn Adam Levy (born July 23, 1968) is a Canadian film director, film producer, actor, and founder of 21 Laps Entertainment. He has worked across genres and is perhaps best known as the director of the ''Night at the Museum'' film franchise an ...
would produce the film along with
Dan Levine
Daniel S. Levine is an American film producer. He is best known for producing the critically acclaimed film '' Arrival'' (2016) that earned him an Academy Award for Best Picture nomination with Shawn Levy, Aaron Ryder, and David Linde.
Filmogra ...
and Dan Cohen through his
21 Laps Entertainment
21 Laps Entertainment is an American film and television production company founded and run by director-producer Shawn Levy. The company is best known as the producers of ''Stranger Things'', and exclusively distributes content through a partner ...
, while the television writer
Chad Hodge
Chad Hodge (born 1977) is an American writer and producer who created drama series '' Runaway'' (2006), '' The Playboy Club'' (2011), '' Wayward Pines'' (2015), and '' Good Behavior'' (2016). He wrote the Broadway stage adaptation of Irving Berlin ...
was hired to write the adaptation. On July 12, 2016, it was reported that animation director
Jennifer Yuh Nelson
Jennifer Yuh Nelson ( Yuh; born May 7, 1972) is a South Korean-born American story artist, character designer, television director, illustrator, and film director. She is best known for directing the films ''Kung Fu Panda 2'', ''Kung Fu Panda 3' ...
had been hired to direct the film, and it would be her first live-action project.
Casting
On September 26, 2016,
Amandla Stenberg
Amandla Stenberg (born October 23, 1998) is an American actress. She was included in ''Time''s list of Most Influential Teens in both 2015 and 2016, and has received several accolades, including a Teen Choice Award, an NAACP Image Award, and n ...
joined the film to play the lead role of Ruby Daly, a 15-year-old girl who runs away from her government camp and joins a group of teens.
On January 17, 2017, it was reported that newcomer
Harris Dickinson
Harris Dickinson (born 24 June 1996) is an English actor. He began his career with a starring role in the drama ''Beach Rats'' (2017), for which he was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead. He has since played John Paul ...
had signed on to play Liam, who also develops superpowers surviving the disease.
In February 2017,
Miya Cech
Miya Cech (born March 4, 2007) is an American actress. She made her film debut in ''The Darkest Minds'' (2018). She then starred in ''Rim of the World'' (2019), the second revival of ''Are You Afraid of the Dark?'' (2019), ''The Astronauts'' (202 ...
was cast as Zu in her film debut, and
Skylan Brooks
Skylan Brooks (born February 12, 1999) is an American actor, best known for playing Mister in ''The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete''.
Early life
Brooks was born in Torrance, California.
Career
In 2013, Brooks played the titular role of ...
was cast as Chubs.
In March 2017,
Mandy Moore
Amanda Leigh Moore (born April 10, 1984) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to fame with her debut single, "Candy", which peaked at number 41 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Her debut studio album, '' So Real'' (1999), recei ...
was cast to play Cate, a doctor and member of an organization who is fighting against the government, and
Patrick Gibson was cast as Clancy Gray, the president's son, whose posters are all over the camp for being “cured” of his powers. He also has the power of
telepathy
Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic W ...
.
Gwendoline Christie
Gwendoline Tracey Philippa Christie (born 28 October 1978) is an English actress who is best known for portraying Brienne of Tarth in the HBO fantasy-drama series ''Game of Thrones'' (2012–2019). She is also widely known for her role the Firs ...
was also cast in the film to play a bounty hunter of teens who escape from the camp.
In April 2017,
Golden Brooks
Golden Brooks is an American actress. She began her career with starring role in the Showtime comedy series, ''Linc's'' (1998–2000), and later has appeared in films ''Timecode'' (2000) and ''Impostor'' (2001).
From 2000 to 2008, Brooks st ...
joined the film to play Ruby’s mother.
Filming
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...
on the film began in April 2017 in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
,
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
.
Music
Benjamin Wallfisch
Benjamin Mark Lasker Wallfisch (born 7 August 1979) is a British composer, conductor, orchestrator, and producer of film scores. Since the mid-2000s, he has worked on over 75 feature films, including composing original scores for '' Blade Ru ...
composed the score for the film. The soundtrack was released by
Milan Records
Milan Records is a record label located in Los Angeles, California specializing in film scores and soundtrack albums. In addition, Milan boasts an extensive electronic catalog which features down-tempo, chillout, and eclectic electronic releases ...
.
Reception
Box office
''The Darkest Minds'' has grossed $12.7 million in the United States and Canada, and $28.4 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $41.1 million, against a production budget of $34 million.
[
In the United States and Canada, ''The Darkest Minds'' was released on August 3, 2018, alongside '']Christopher Robin
Christopher Robin is a character created by A. A. Milne, based on his son Christopher Robin Milne. The character appears in the author's popular books of poetry and ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' stories, and has subsequently appeared in various Disney a ...
'', ''The Spy Who Dumped Me
''The Spy Who Dumped Me'' is a 2018 American action spy spoof comedy film directed by Susanna Fogel and co-written by Fogel and David Iserson. The film stars Mila Kunis, Kate McKinnon, Justin Theroux, Sam Heughan, Hasan Minhaj, and Gillian Ander ...
'' and '' Death of a Nation: Can We Save America a Second Time?'', and was originally projected to gross around $10 million from 3,127 theaters in its opening weekend. However after grossing $2.3 million on its first day, including $550,000 from Thursday night previews, weekend estimates were lowered to $6 million. It went on to debut $5.8 million, finishing eighth at the box office and marking the 12th worst opening for a film playing in over 3,000 theaters. It dropped 64% to $2.1 million in its second weekend, finishing 12th.
In its third weekend, the film grossed $255,173 and was pulled from 2,679 theaters (85.6 percent, 3,127 to 448), marking the largest third-weekend theater drop in history.
Critical response
The film received negative reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critical consensus reads, "''The Darkest Minds'' does little to differentiate itself in a crowded field of YA adaptations, leaving all but the least demanding viewers feeling dystopian déjà vu." On Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the film has a weighted average score of 39 out of 100, based on reviews from 28 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore
CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data.
Background
Ed Mintz founded Ci ...
gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.
A.A. Dowd of The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
called the film "a formulaic hodgepodge of secondhand plot points" and "an insult to its target demographic" of teen moviegoers. William Bibbiani of ''TheWrap
''TheWrap'' is an American online news website covering the business of entertainment and media via digital, print and live events. It was founded by journalist Sharon Waxman
Sharon I. Waxman (born c.1963) is an American author, journalist, ...
'' praised the film and the cast, but concedes "it's not quite thrilling enough ..so it plays a bit more like a manifesto than a sci-fi thriller." Monica Castillo of RogerEbert.com wrote that while the film has a "promising start", it "ultimately doesn’t quite deliver."
Potential sequel
''The Darkest Minds'' is based on the first of four novels, three novellas and three short stories in ''The Darkest Minds'' series, and the film's ending sets the stage for future action. Director Jennifer Yuh Nelson
Jennifer Yuh Nelson ( Yuh; born May 7, 1972) is a South Korean-born American story artist, character designer, television director, illustrator, and film director. She is best known for directing the films ''Kung Fu Panda 2'', ''Kung Fu Panda 3' ...
has stated that she would be happy to return for a second film in the series, although no definitive plans have been announced. Reports indicate sequels are unlikely given the poor box office performance of the film.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Darkest Minds
2010s science fiction thriller films
21 Laps Entertainment films
Asian-American films
American science fiction thriller films
American dystopian films
Fiction about mind control
Films about telekinesis
Films based on American thriller novels
Films based on science fiction novels
Films about fictional presidents of the United States
Films based on young adult literature
Films directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson
Films scored by Benjamin Wallfisch
Films shot in Atlanta
2010s English-language films
2010s American films