The Giver

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: a future set utopia where teenagers are sectioned off into different jobs once they reach maturity, everything related to humanity from emotions to population size is tightly controlled, and all overseen by a highly regarded Academy Award winning actress. Unfortunately, while The Giver may have beaten Divergent to the book shelves by nearly 20 years, it followed too closely on its tail into cinemas.

When Jonas (Brenton Thwaites, a perfect mix of Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner, both in looks and talent) discovers he is to become the next Receiver – a kind of memory librarian for all of humanity’s rocky past – he begins his training under The Giver (Jeff Bridges), the current holder of Jonas’ future position. There’s also Jonas’ two best friends, Fiona (Odeya Rush, a mini Mila Kunis) and Asher (Cameron Monaghan, evil-faced), and his family consisting of a brainless, rule-following father (Alexander Skarsgard) and an entirely emotionless mother (Katie Holmes, method acting for years, even in other movies). Overseeing all of this is the Chief Elder (Meryl Streep), who mostly appears throughout via hologram, while her performance mostly delivered via phone.

It quickly becomes apparent that what we’ve got here is another Golden Compass on our hands; a critically and publicly loved book, stellar cast involved, accomplished director (Noyce previously gave us the likes of Salt, Patriot Games and Dead Calm), but trying to simultaneously build the world and tell the story, and hence failing at both.

Kicking off in black and white, as Jonas receives more knowledge, more colour seeps into the movie, but we’re not granted any more information, just shown a lot of … stuff. This utopia is situated on top of a mountain, surrounded by a bank cloud, but we’re never entirely sure where in the world we’re supposed to be. Or why everyone is Caucasian. Or why in his new position Jonas is allowed to break the rules, and then when he does, the supposedly emotionally supressed population react with shock and horror.

On the plus side, The Giver goes some darker places than any movie of a comparative nature would ever dare, and you will want to stick it out to see how it all ends. Aside from that, there’s some decent performances and strong production values, but they’ll only get you so far before you’re forced to accept this is just another underdeveloped Young Adult adaptation. And just like the maligned Golden Compass, considering the source material, that simply isn’t good enough.