High Rise isn’t really a movie but more of a metaphor. A metaphor for the collapse of society. The rich get richer as the poor get poorer, and thus chaos ensues. Director Ben Wheatley takes this recurring piece of history, and puts it all into a High Rise set in 70’s London.

Depending what level of the High Rise you live on, determines your social status. The lower the poorer, and the higher the richer. Our protagonist, Dr. Laing (Played by Tom Hiddleston) is brand new to the High Rise and lives on one of the higher floors, but just below the rich.

As Laing reluctantly introduces himself, he slowly becomes attached to the High Rise and the occupants inside it, mainly his neighbors. As the film goes on, parties take place. These parties act as almost as if they were chapters in a book. Each party takes place on a certain floor, and those near the floor attend. The middle class end up throwing a party, and then the higher class retaliate with a party of their own.

Now on the outside these parties seem just like ordinary cocaine fueled ragers, but in actuality they represent statements. The rich and the poor try to out do each other and this is where things get crazy. The parties turn from fun events into wars. The High Rise becomes filled with the waste of the parties. The hallways, rooms, foyers, they’re all slowly filled with the damage of social class warfare.

Things get even crazier from here, no longer are people civilized, they go insane. However as insane as some of the people are, they all think everything is completely normal. No one is calling the police, nobody is running away, everyone is staying right where they are.

This unfortunately is also when the movie tends to fall apart. As things become more and more insane, the momentum is lost. Things stop making sense, and some scenes feel pointless. I often found myself asking questions on why things were getting so bad and so weird. It’s often too vague to understand.  The characters regularly talk in profound messages, but the messages tend to be meaningless.

I believe this movie has lots of important, and relevant messages imbedded inside it. Unfortunately though, they are buried to deep underneath the massive outlying questions, and lack of context.

However as empty as the second half is, there are still many redeeming parts of this film. The cinematography for most of the movie is very very beautiful. The concrete architecture, the 70’s styling, the maniacal slow motion parties. They all breathe this extraordinary artistic value into the film and it’s what kept me digging, even if it meant digging deep.

The most cinematic scene was also the most the most important. As the middle class throws a party insanity soon follows. A Drug induced fight begins between a friend of Laing’s and another occupant. As Laing breaks up the fight he gets an elbow to the face, but the party saves him from fighting.

Instead of fighting the party is turned to eleven and the insanity is taken to new heights. Guitar solos are screamed and wild cuts start flashing, all the while some jumps of the balcony. A slow motion shot follows his flailing body until he hits a car and the hood wraps around him like aluminum foil. The party doesn’t slow a bit.

High Rise is no doubt a difficult film to understand, and sometimes the reward is lackluster, but it’s definitely worth watching. At the moment it’s on Netflix so I recommend giving it a watch, at least to just test your own creative mind. High Rise is as vivid and inventive as it is strange and bewildering. It’s very much a one of a kind but also a 3 out of 5 stars.