A drama-thriller superhero film, Chronicle is Brightburn if it was more competent and spent its time to develop the characters. The pace can be quite slow in the first half, but its slowness is crafted in such a way that you can't help but sympathize with the confusion, exhilaration, satisfaction, disappointment, and anger the group feels throughout the film - especially Andrew. It takes you to the time when high school was full of possibilities and, at the same time, full of disappointment.
The use of "found footage", despite the at times erratic angle, helps with connecting to the guys in the film, as if you're part of the group witnessing the event unfolds. I like that the film uses different cameras (surveillance camera, others' phones, etc) to convey scenes where Andrew's footage would not make sense.
When the climax eventually hits it feels quite painful as you've seen the group's ups and downs, and you'd find yourself believing under different circumstances they would've been something else. That being said, the final showdown lacks a little bit of oomph from the hectic and chaos it caused. Perhaps the only sequences where the found footage angle could use better work.
Review by Pradipa PRBlockedParent2023-07-15T18:40:32Z
A drama-thriller superhero film, Chronicle is Brightburn if it was more competent and spent its time to develop the characters. The pace can be quite slow in the first half, but its slowness is crafted in such a way that you can't help but sympathize with the confusion, exhilaration, satisfaction, disappointment, and anger the group feels throughout the film - especially Andrew. It takes you to the time when high school was full of possibilities and, at the same time, full of disappointment.
The use of "found footage", despite the at times erratic angle, helps with connecting to the guys in the film, as if you're part of the group witnessing the event unfolds. I like that the film uses different cameras (surveillance camera, others' phones, etc) to convey scenes where Andrew's footage would not make sense.
When the climax eventually hits it feels quite painful as you've seen the group's ups and downs, and you'd find yourself believing under different circumstances they would've been something else. That being said, the final showdown lacks a little bit of oomph from the hectic and chaos it caused. Perhaps the only sequences where the found footage angle could use better work.
Not the greatest film, but still worth watching.