SPOILER WARNING: The following features explicit details from the story of White Noise, if you have not yet used your Netflix subscription to stream the movie, make like Adam Driver’s character and take extreme caution.
For his unconventional approach to telling and otherwise relatively grounded stories — such as with his directorial debut, Kicking and Screaming, from 1996 and 2005’s The Squid and the Whale — Noah Baumbach is regarded as one of the most insightful and ambitious indie filmmakers working today. However, the Academy Award nominee’s adaptation of Don DeLillo’s 1985 novel, White Noise, is easily his most ambitious work yet.
I will admit that, as much as I enjoyed this bizarre story of a college professor (Adam Driver), his wife (Greta Gerwig), and their family’s struggles in the wake of a hazardous catastrophe in the 1980s, my mind was on overdrive as I tried to keep up with all of its densely and esoterically crafted satirical elements and symbolic themes. Luckily, I managed to collect the few thoughts that stuck in my mind in as I watched one of the most unique, funny, and thought-provoking 2022 Netflix movies to share them below.
I Have Never Heard A Better Analysis Of Cinematic Car Crashes
Immediately stealing the show from the rest of the White Noise cast in the first scene is Don Cheadle. His character — an American Culture professor named Murray — opens the movie by showing his class (and us) a montage of famous movie scenes featuring car crashes, as he delivers a monologue explaining their purpose as, not an exploitation of violence, but “part of an American tradition of optimism.” Putting the scene’s ironic and thematic significance aside, I have to admit that these words resonated with me deeply, as the most memorable and exciting moments from some of my favorite movies do happen to involve auto-collisions.
Jack And Babette Debating Who Should Die First Reminds Me Of My Own Marriage
As my wife pointed out to me while we watched White Noise together, we actually once had a conversation very similar to when Jack Gladney (Driver, also from Baumbach’s Marriage Story cast) and his wife, Babette (Gerwig, who also co-wrote her Barbie movie with Baumbach, among other collaborations), tell each other they would each rather die first because neither could bear to live without the other. Little did we know that this otherwise tender and bittersweet moment would become especially thematically important as the film grows bleaker… but more on that later.
It Would Be Pretty Easy To Believe This Movie Was Actually Made In The ‘80s
If I was completely unfamiliar with some of its A-list actors and, somehow, made oblivious to its promotional material, anyone could have told me that White Noise was actually made in the mid-1980s and I probably would have bought it. The beautiful production design, which boasts a spot-on reflection of the time (and rivals Wes Anderson’s signature style, as far as I am concerned), and subtle grain in the cinematography (conducted by Lol Crawley on actual film) really immerses you into the film’s period setting with breathtaking conviction.
For A Film Set In The ‘80s, It Is Remarkably Timely
On the other hand, that façade could have been ruined by the film’s commentary on the likes of family issues, misinformation, and mass paranoia that reflect modern society in highly relatable and, often, unnervingly accurate ways. The fact that White Noise is a deeply faithful adaptation of a novel published nearly 40 years ago makes these parallels especially impressive, let alone kind of frightening.
I Did Not Expect This To Become A Horror Movie
Even before I reached the thoroughly intense second part of White Noise — in which a cloud of toxic chemicals forces Jack and his family to evacuate their town — I was already on the edge of my seat. The film takes a stark turn from its initially quirky and mundane tone when Jack dreams about a shadowy, scarred stranger in his house who takes his wife’s place in bed and nearly suffocates him with a blanket. It only gets creepier when he believes he is seeing the same figure outside of his nightmares.
Is Noah Baumbach A Stranger Things Fan?
It is not unusual to see some thematic or stylistic overlap among some Netflix exclusive titles, but I never would have expected to see what initially appeared to be a reference to Stranger Things in White Noise. With its red lightning and ominous presence, the black cloud at the center of the “Airborne Toxic Event” plot looks like something that came right out of the Upside Down. Considering the film and the hit coming-of-age sci-fi series both take place around the time, it seems like a great crossover opportunity was left on the table.
I Am Amazed By The Movie’s Ability To Switch Tones Without Sacrificing Momentum
After the “Airborne Toxic Event” storyline is wrapped up, White Noise changes its tune once again from an apocalyptic thriller to a more mundane, but undeniably bleak, meditation on existential dread as Jack becomes increasingly obsessed with his own mortality and his relationship with Babette hits a snag. Yet, despite the drastic tonal disparities between each of its three parts, the continued narrative never really feels stunted. It is a very impressive balancing act that I believe the cast earns partial credit for.
I Am Mesmerized By Adam Driver’s Ability To Take Control Of His Environment
Speaking of the cast, I believe there is something special about Driver, who is great in everything he does, but what the Star Wars actor does in White Noise is particularly spellbinding. It has to do with the way he moves about a room, plays with his hands, manipulates his surroundings, etc. Somehow, these seemingly subtle details lend so much to what I regard as a very enigmatic and compelling performance.
This Is The Greatest Closing Credits Sequence I Have Ever Seen
Most people can name some of the best post-credits scenes or even a favorite opening credits sequence, but White Noise boasts a rare kind of end credits sequence that keeps you glued to the screen until the lights come up. It is a wondrously surreal sight fusing punk rock-era pogo dancing with the style of Busby Berkeley in which the inhabitants of a grocery store go about shopping while hopping to LCD Soundsystem’s new track, “New Body Rhumba.” If this movie gets any Academy Award nominations, I hope “Best Original Song” is one of them, at least.
Despite finally catching on to this a few days late, I think I can say that, among my favorite movies released in 2022, White Noise has definitely earned a spot. I could understand if some audiences found its unconventional storytelling construction a little difficult to access, but I find such challenging and even maddeningly cerebral films especially fascinating and this is a prime example.
