Ben Wheatley's HIGH-RISE is based on J.G. Ballard's 1975 novel about a societal breakdown within a high-tech, luxury high-rise. Class warfare becomes quite literal inside the building, and while the film and book are filled with all kinds of immoral activities (violence, pillaging, eating pets, the usual), there's a wicked sense of humor at work that lends the entire tale an air of satirical surreality.
I had the opportunity to sit down with Wheatley (whose previous films include KILL LIST and SIGHTSEERS), who was able to get Ballard's book in front of cameras after years of false starts on the part of the movie's producer Jeremy Thomas, as well as star Tom Hiddleston, who plays the film's "hero,” Dr. Robert Laing, who moves into the high-rise just as things start falling apart. We spoke about how the story resonates today, our over-dependence on technology nowadays, and much more. (Also put Hiddleston on the spot and asked if he liked Wheatley's KILL LIST.)
Also in HIGH-RISE are Luke Evans and Sienna Miller, who respectively play a frustrated documentarian and a bored single mom living in the ominous titular setting. As life in the building becomes toxic, Evans' character becomes more and more of a barbarian, while Miller's shrinks within herself, just hoping to survive the ordeal. I spoke to the actors about the wild atmosphere on set, Evans' dance-off with Hiddleston (must be seen to be believed), shooting some of the more uncomfortable sequences and Evans' chance to prove he's more than just an action hero.