Best – Chronicle
Just when it appeared that the format was on its way out, director Josh Trank broke out with this thrilling superhero origin tale. Innovatively utilizing found footage to tell a surprisingly believable story about three teenagers who gain telekinetic powers after exposure to a mysterious rock, Chronicle proved that found footage was good for something other than the horror genre. In crafting an effective and ingenious superhero found footage movie, Trank showed audiences that the genre need not be limited to gruesome fright flicks.
Terrific performances from Dane DeHaan, Alex Russell and Michael B. Jordan elevated Chronicle, but the real breakout star of the movie is Trank, who uses the found footage format to thrust the audience headfirst into the frightening power of the teens’ abilities. A flight through a lightning storm is heart-in-mouth terrifying, while the film’s heartbreaking finale, involving two of the teens battling throughout Seattle, sets a new standard for excellence in found footage cinema. Trank puts the audience in the line of fire, so every blow and every explosion lands with shattering force. As a whole, Chronicle succeeds simply because it’s unafraid to go dark, to experiment and to infuse its handheld format with the tortured souls of its winning characters.